[ad_1]
In a church in the center of Nice there was an act motivated by terrorism. Police arrested the alleged attacker. In response, the French government issued the highest level of terrorist alert.
French President Emmanuel Macron visits the scene of the attack in Nice.
What we know
- Three people died after being attacked with a knife in a church in Nice.
- The culprit was found by the police and is in hospital.
- Prime Minister Jean Castex declared the highest level of terrorism alert.
- French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Nice on Thursday afternoon.
In a suspected terrorist attack Thursday morning at 9:00 in Nice, three people were killed in a knife attack. As reported by Reuters, a woman is said to have been beheaded. The author shouted “Allahu Akbar”. A man, the cathedral sigrist and another woman were also killed. The striker is said to be a 21-year-old Tunisian.
Police are protecting the area in central Nice.
The act took place in the Notre-Dame church in the city center. The third victim is said to have sought protection in a nearby bar after the attack, according to the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, but died of his injuries. Six other people were injured, the German news agency reported, citing police circles.
In the morning the place of worship and the area were searched by the police and are still partially cordoned off. The population is advised to avoid the area.
According to the newspaper “Nice Matin”, the police “neutralized” the alleged culprit with gunshots – according to eyewitnesses after running out of the church to the green area behind the church. The man was taken to hospital injured. The country’s anti-terrorism agency also intervened.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex has meanwhile declared the highest level of terrorism alert for the entire country. The so-called “Vigipirate Plan” provides for three levels of vigilance: the normal state of “Vigilance”, the increase of “Sécurité renforcée – risque attentat” and the level of “Urgence attention” now activated. The latter is usually activated either immediately before an attack that can be threatened or, as now happens in Nice, immediately after an attack.
Before the National Assembly, Castex announced a firm and inflexible government position.
The Nation shares the pain and immense emotion of the families of the victims of Nice and of the whole Catholic community that was struck in the heart.
This attack, as vile as it is barbaric, mourns the whole country.
Our response will be firm, relentless and immediate. pic.twitter.com/DMHdXZQM3v– Jean Castex (@JeanCASTEX) October 29, 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron went to Nice in the afternoon. He is accompanied by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti and the anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard, among others. Macron spoke to the security forces and the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, and visited the crime scene near the cathedral.
Thanks to the head of state @EmmanuelMacron for his immediate arrival in our city after the new Islamist attack that hit the heart of # Nice06. pic.twitter.com/ZAVwVpPf1A
– Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) October 29, 2020
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had warned several times of a high risk of terrorism in the country. Just two weeks ago, a teacher was beheaded in a Paris suburb. The crime had caused horror across the country. Tens of thousands took to the streets to show their solidarity.
Nice was the scene of a terrorist attack in 2016 when a man drove a truck through the crowd on the Promenade des Anglais near the beach during the national holiday on July 14. At that time 86 people died.
Stop in Avignon
Shortly after the Nice attack, police killed an attacker in Avignon, southern France, who allegedly threatened passers-by with a weapon. It was initially said in police circles that there is currently no evidence of a terrorist background. France’s Europe 1 radio broadcaster reported, however, that the author shouted “Allahu Akbar” as the attacker in Nice.
Terrorist attacks in France since 2015
(Reuters) Over the past five years, France has been hit repeatedly by terrorist attacks:
- On September 25, 2020, two people were injured in a knife attack in Paris near the former offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. A Pakistani migrant was arrested after the crime.
- On 3 October 2019, a 45-year-old IT specialist working at the Paris police headquarters killed three police officers and a civilian employee before being shot by the police. He converted to Islam 10 years ago.
- On 23 May 2018, a gunman killed three people in southwestern France after stealing a car, shooting on approaching police and taking hostages at a supermarket. He was shot dead when the police raided the building.
- On July 26, 2016, two attackers killed a priest and injured another hostage in a church in northern France. They were then shot by the police. President François Hollande said the kidnappers were members of the Islamic State terrorist militia.
- On 14 July 2016, a national holiday, a gunman raced through the crowd in Nice with a truck, killing a total of 86 people. The terrorist militia of the Islamic State assumed responsibility for the attack. The attacker himself was a French born in Tunisia.
- On June 14, 2016, a Frenchman of Moroccan origin stabbed a policeman outside his home in a Paris suburb and also killed his partner, who also worked for the police. The attacker claimed to have acted on behalf of the Islamic State terrorist group.
- On November 13, 2015, Paris was shaken by a series of terrorist attacks. A total of 130 people were killed and 368 injured. Two of the 10 attackers were Belgian citizens and three French.
- On January 7, 2015, two Islamist assassins broke into the editorial offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people there. Another attacker killed a policewoman the next day and took hostages in a supermarket on January 9, killing four before being killed by the police themselves.
[ad_2]
Source link
