MADRID, July 25 (Reuters) - A man was detained on Tuesday after attempting to cross the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla while threatening police with a knife.
The man, believed to be Moroccan, approached the border at Beni Enzar at 7:35 a.m. and shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is Greatest) before he was brought down by police. One policeman was cut on the hand during the incident.
In close circuit television footage, the man, dressed in a blue shirt and white shorts, is seen walking across the border, waving the knife. Spanish police keep their distance before one officer runs up behind him and knocks him to the ground by striking him on the head with a white traffic bollard.
Once felled, the man is tackled by several police and detained.
Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said on Twitter: "The rapid, coordinated and professional conduct of the police has avoided a serious incident in Beni Enzar. All my support to the hurt officer."
(Reporting by Raquel Castillo; Writing by Paul Day; Editing by Sonya Dowsett and Mark Trevelyan) ((paul.e.day@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 585 83 08; Reuters Messaging: paul.e.day.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
