A man, 37, was shot dead by police officers in Germany on Sunday evening after he 'ran towards them with a knife while shouting Allahu akbar'.

Believed to be a Turkish citizen, the man was shot at around 7.40pm in front of the South Police Station in Gelsenkirchen in the west of the country.

It comes after two similar attacks in France in as many days.

The man was shot at around 7.40pm on Sunday evening in front of the South Police Station in Gelsenkirchen in the west of the country

According to German publication Bild, the man, also from Gelsenkirchen, was previously known to police with a history of violent crime.

A police spokesman said: 'Two police officers were in front of the station in a patrol car.

'A man ran past the patrol car and suddenly hit the car with an object. The officials asked him to stop. The man attacked the officers with his arm raised and the object.'

In the other hand, according to police, he had a knife that he tried to hide behind his back.

He ignored orders from the police, continuing to threaten officers and using the phrase 'Allahu akbar'.

Earlier, police in France shot and wounded a knifeman who rushed at a group of officers shouting 'Allahu akbar' just one day after another attacker left one dead and two hurt.

Local officials said the incident in the city of Metz was being monitored closely and that a probe had been launched to determine the motivation of the attack which saw a 28-year-old man attack officers in the Borny district.

'The man was known to be radicalised, and to have a personality disorder,' said Christian Mercuri, the Metz public prosecutor.

Mr Mercuri said police had fired shots at the man so as to overpower him soon after midday, because he was threatening passers-by with a knife.

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Police officers were pictured on the scene today following the attack in the French city of Metz

Police officers rushed to the scene where they managed to get the suspect on the floor (left and right)

The man was on an 'S-file' in France, which means he was considered to be a serious threat to national security because of his obsession with radical Islam, including groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

It comes just days after a man went on a knife rampage in the suburb of Villejuif just outside Paris on Jan 3.

The attacker killed one person and wounded two and was subsequently shot dead by police.

The Metz local public prosecutor's office said it was in contact with the French anti-terrorism prosecutor's department over the incident, while French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner added he was monitoring the situation closely.

'I praise the quick thinking of the @PoliceNat57 (Moselle police force), which intervened to apprehend the individual. A probe is underway to determine the precise motivation and circumstances behind the act,' Castaner wrote on Twitter.

The attack happened in Metz (stock image above) just days after another attack hit France

The Metz local prosecutor's office said the suspect suffered gunshot wounds to the thigh. He was then taken away.

It added that the suspect, whom it did not name, was on an official list of those monitored for links to militant groups.

Paris has suffered major attacks by Islamist militants in recent years.

Co-ordinated bombings and shootings in November 2015 at the Bataclan theatre and other sites around Paris killed 130 people - the deadliest attacks in France since World War Two.