Two British tourists remained in a 'very serious condition' in a Paris hospital tonight after being stabbed repeatedly by an illegal Afghan immigrant who tried to use them as human shields.

The pair, aged 56 and 53, were among seven wounded by the 31-year-old attacker in an unprovoked attack on Sunday night.

The Afghan was originally set upon by a group of petanque players who threw metal boules and stones at him after he threatened them with a 15-inch kitchen knife and iron bar.

An investigating source said: 'The attacker hid behind the two British holidaymakers, hoping to avoid getting hurt.'

A person holding a mobile phone shows a video of what he claims to be the perpetrator of a knife attack. The picture also shows a boule thrown by a petanque player

Witnesses shouted 'Watch out. He's got a knife!' at the British pair, but they failed to react in time to prevent being slashed themselves.

One of the unnamed Britons was stabbed in the chest, cheek and thigh, while the other suffered injuries in the throat and abdomen.

They were set upon in an alley close to a canal in the north of the city, and close to the Gare du Nord Eurostar hub.

The attacker, who is aged in his 30s, stabbed three people outside a cinema in the north-east of the city just before 11pm, fled, then stabbed four more before being arrested.

At one point petanque players threw metal boules at the man in an attempt to disarm him, hitting him four times in the head, but were unable to stop him.

'He is unconscious in hospital in Paris, and has not spoken since the attack, but he was carrying immigration documents issued to an Afghan minor,' said a source close to the investigation.

Police arrest a scissor-wielding attacker in Paris this morning, thought to be pictured above

Officers said the man targeted strangers during his rampage but there is no link to terror at this stage.

'It may be that he is an adult Afghan or Pakistani using the documents illegally,' the source added.

'One of the English victims was stabbed in the chest, while the other was also badly hurt. Both remain in hospital along with two others who are in a very serious condition.'

A second attack followed on Monday when a scissor-wielding attacker stabbed a postman in the throat and tried to cut others in Paris, according to local media.

Police tasered the suspect after being called to Rue de la Roquette in Bastille Square in the French capital at 11am today, France 3 TV channel reported.

Evidence lies on the pavement as police secure the area in Paris where people were stabbed last night

Police investigators work at the scene after seven people were wounded in a knife attack in Paris on Sunday evening which officials said was unlikely to be linked to terrorism

French police officers at the scene where a man attacked and injured people in the streets

People playing petanque - a sport popular in France also known as boules - saw the attack and threw metal balls at the assailant.

He was struck in the head by about four of the balls but this failed to stop him and he fled, cornering the two British tourists before stabbing them.

'They were told, be careful, he has a knife. But they did not react. These tourists were then attacked,' a witness told Le Figaro.

Both were stabbed before a plain-clothes police officer intervened, and then a night patrol helped him arrest the man.

A British foreign office spokesman confirmed that 'two Britons were among the people targeted' in an areas close to the Gare du Nord, the Eurostar rail hub where high speed trains travel to London.

It is well known for its immigrant communities, many of them Afghan, sleeping rough as they try to get to the UK to claim asylum.

Some are minors travelling alone, although adults have been known to pose as children in the hope of getting priority treatment by the authorities.

A security guard at one of two cinemas on either side of the Canal de l'Ourcq said he saw a man who had already assaulted people being chased by two other men who tried to stop him.

A map shows the location of the attack in Paris where a man with a knife injured seven people

Police secure the area after seven people were wounded in a knife attack in downtown Paris

Police investigators work on the scene after seven people were wounded in the knife attack

Police investigators work on the scene after seven people were wounded in the knife attack

A French police officer speaks to a man at the scene where a man attacked and injured people

A Paris police officer and vehicle at the scene where a man injured seven people on Sunday

It is the latest of several knife attacks France has seen in recent months, with terrorism being ruled out in most cases.

On August 23, a man stabbed his mother and sister to death and seriously injured another person in a town near Paris before being shot dead by police.

The motive for the violence remained unclear despite a claim by the Islamic State (IS) group that it was an attack by one of its fighters responding to the terror organisation's propaganda.

Authorities said the 36-year-old had serious mental health problems and had been on a terror watch list since 2016.

That attack came days after an Afghan asylum-seeker was arrested in town of Perigueux for a drunken rampage with a knife in which four people were wounded, one seriously.

Police said investigators had 'very quickly' dismissed a terrorist motive after the August 13 incident.

And on June 17, two people were hurt in another southern town when a woman shouting 'Allahu akbar' (God is greatest) attacked them in a supermarket with a boxcutter knife.

France has been on high alert following a string of jihadist attacks in recent years, often by people who have become radicalised or claim to have acted in the name of the IS group.

More than 240 people have been killed by Islamist extremists since a massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris in January 2015.

The scene in Paris where police responded to an attacker who injured seven people last night

The aftermath of the attack in Paris in which four people were reportedly injured seriously

A police vehicle at the scene after seven people were injured by the knifeman in Paris