Paris: A knifeman shouting Allahu akbar was shot dead by police in central Paris after he killed one person and injured four, prompting a terror probe. The attack took place near the city's main opera house in an area full of bars, restaurants and theatres which were brimming on a weekend night.


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The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the deadly knife attack, according to the SITE monitoring group. "The executor of the stabbing operation in the city of Paris is a soldier of the Islamic State and the operation was carried out in response to the calls to target the coalition states," a "security source" told IS's official Amaq news agency.


French President Emmanuel Macron said: "France once again pays the price of blood." Prosecutors cited witnesses as saying the man shouted Allahu akbar as he went on the rampage, and added that a terror investigation had been launched.


The man attacked five people with a knife, one of whom died, police said. Two were in serious condition and all the victims are in hospital.


Interior Minister Gerard Collomb hailed in a tweet the "sang-froid and reaction of the police who neutralised the attacker." A large area was cordoned-off where police, fire and rescue vehicles converged.


Shocked tourists and residents looked on from behind the security perimeter. "I was on the cafe terrace, I heard three, four shots, it happened very fast," said 47-year-old Gloria.


"Then the bartenders told us to come inside very quickly. Then I went out to see what was going on, and then I saw a man on the ground," she added. Police said the attacker's motives were still unknown.


The attack comes as France is under a constant threat from terrorism. A string of jihadist attacks have claimed the lives of over 245 people around France in the past three years.