Frenchman 'Shouting Allahu Akbar' Stabs British Woman To Death in Australia

A French national shouted the Arabic phrase "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," before stabbing a British woman to death and wounding two others in an attack at a backpacker hostel in northeast Australia, police said Wednesday.

Officials said the attack was potentially of an "extremist" nature but the 29-year-old suspect, who had been in Australia on a temporary visa for a year, does not have any links to the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), according to Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski. Authorities are still attempting to determine the motivation behind the attack.

"It is alleged that the suspect used the phrase 'Allahu Akbar' when arrested by police," Gollschewski told reporters in Queensland's capital, Brisbane, AFP news agency reported.

"While this information will be factored into the investigation, we are not ruling out any motivations at this early stage, whether they be political or criminal," he continued. "Investigators will also consider whether mental health or drug misuse factors are involved in this incident."

The attack happened at Shelley's Backpackers in the town of Home Hill, northern Queensland, on Tuesday night. Police said the incident, which left the 21-year-old British woman dead and a 30-year-old British man hospitalized, was witnessed by up to 30 people. Both victims are yet to be identified.

A second man injured was released after medics treated his injuries. The attack also fatally wounded a dog. Police arrested the 29-year-old suspect and he remains in custody.

"The associated issues of what motivated him and whether that has any relevance to radicalization is something we're going to explore fully, but we won't know for some time whether that's the case," Gollschewski said.

Australia has taken steps to counter extremism in line with the rise of ISIS, as the country plays a role in the coalition fight against the radical Islamist group in Iraq and Syria. The government in Canberra has raised the threat level to high and passed new national security bills.

ISIS's spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani has called on the group's supporters to refrain from attempting to reach the group's self-proclaimed caliphate because of the increasing difficulty in reaching Syrian territory. He has called on them to carry out attacks in their own territory instead.