Afghan killer sparks far-right criticism in France

An Afghan asylum seeker who killed a man and stabbed several others in the French city of Lyon sparked a row about immigration on Sunday as new details emerged about his rampage.

The 33-year-old killer stabbed a 19-year-old to death and injured eight others on Saturday afternoon in the Villeurbanne suburb of Lyon before he was cornered by locals and arrested by police.

French investigators are so far treating the stabbings with a knife and meat skewer as a criminal incident, rather than a terror attack, amid reports that the perpetrator was a drug addict.

Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen led criticism of what she termed "the laxness of migration policy" in France which she said was "a serious threat to the safety of French people."

But the mayor of Villeurbanne, Jean-Paul Bret from the Socialist party, accused her and others on the right and far-right of "exploiting things politically."

"It's the classic reaction from the far-right which tries to turn a dramatic event to its ...