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New arrests after the attack: masses under strict surveillance
| Reading time: 2 minutes
Police officers stand near the scene of the knife attack in the southern French coastal city of Nice.
Source: dpa / Eric Gaillard
In connection with the knife attack in Nice, the police arrested two other possible accomplices. In the southern French city, 120 police officers and 60 other soldiers were mobilized to protect the churches.
northFollowing the knife attack in Nice, which left three dead, French police arrested two more people. They are said to be men between the ages of 25 and 63, French news agency AFP and broadcaster BFMTV said on Sunday. Since the attack on the church on Thursday, six people have been detained by police in addition to the suspect.
In the attack, which was classified as an Islamist terrorist attack, a 21-year-old Tunisian fatally wounded the sacristan and two women at the Notre Dame church in the center of the southern French city. The attacker is said to have yelled “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) several times during the crime.
The suspect was shot multiple times by the police when he was arrested and was seriously injured in hospital. He has not yet been questioned. According to the current state of the investigation, the young man only arrived in France one or two days before the crime, he had arrived in the country via Italy.
In France, the antiterrorist prosecutor is investigating the case. The Tunisian authorities also opened an investigation. Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has instructed the Ministry of the Interior and Justice to work with the French authorities.
The three victims of the knife attack were commemorated Sunday at Saint-Jean-Baptiste Le Voeu church in Nice on the occasion of the All Saints’ Day Mass. According to the mayor of the city, Christian Estrosi, 120 policemen and 60 other soldiers were mobilized to guard the churches of Nice.
Meanwhile, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced that he will send thousands of additional emergency services to the streets. Consequently, 3,500 reserve police officers are mobilized so that a total of 7,000 security forces are at the disposal of the local authorities. Schools and churches in particular should be better protected.
The mood against France is heated
Just two weeks ago, a history teacher was killed in Paris for showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in favor of showing the cartoons in the context of freedom of expression.
Since then, the mood in Muslim countries against France has heated up. In countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, thousands of people recently took to the streets in anti-French protests and burned photographs of Macron.
Another incident shook France on Saturday: in the city of Lyon, an Orthodox priest was attacked and wounded with a pistol. According to the police, the alleged perpetrator is on the run.
