Two policewomen in Cherbourg, France were attacked by a man dressed as a ninja at about 3.45pm local time on Thursday. One was wounded in the face and the other in the chin. A third officer shot him three times and he was taken to hospital by helicopter, where he remains in serious condition.

       Police have for now ruled the incident out as a terror attack, one of the officers said.

       The assailant had stolen a car, a Citro？n C3, which he crashed into a service station while being followed by the force.

       He was reportedly dressed in black in the style of traditional Japanese ninja fighters.

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       The attack echoes a separate incident in September in the US.

       A man dressed as a ninja and wielding a sword attacked a group of soldiers training at Inyokern Airport in California.

       According to Stars and Stripes, two people, members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), were injured while 26 others were "hunkered down in a hangar wondering where help is".

       The Kern County Sheriff’s Office said: "The suspect had assaulted a victim at the scene with a sword, and thrown a rock through a hangar window, hitting an additional victim in the head."

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       A report of the incident, posted on social media and shared by the same publication, stated that a staff sergeant was smoking a cigarette near a hangar at the airport when he was approached by "an unknown person wearing full ninja garb".

       According to the report, the man asked: "Do you know who I am?"

       The sergeant said he didn’t.

       The man then asked: "Do you know where my family is?"

       Once again, the sergeant said no.

       Then, "the person in ninja garb began to slash" with a katana sword at the sergeant, "striking his phone and his knee and leg".

       The sergeant managed to escape to the building where his colleagues were hidden.

       While they waited for assistance, the man dressed as a ninja kicked the doors and windows.

       The attacker was eventually detained, at a different location, "for attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, brandishing a weapon, brandishing a weapon with the intent to resist or prevent an arrest".