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NICE, France – Three people were killed in a knife attack by a man at the Notre-Dame Basilica in the center of the French city of Nice on Thursday. The incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack and comes less than two weeks after the beheading of history and geography professor Samuel Paty by an Islamic extremist, which has caused a stir in the country.
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The attack prompted France to raise alertness to its highest level. President Emmanuel Macron announced new counter-terrorism measures, with the deployment of thousands of soldiers to increase the security of religious centers and schools across the country. Macron, who expressed his support for the Catholic community, traveled to Nice hours after the crime.
“France is under attack,” said the president, calling for the unity of the French people. – If they attack us, it is because of our values, our appreciation for freedom and the possibility of having freedom of belief in our territory (…). Today I say it again very clearly: we will not give in.
In a joint statement, the 27 leaders of the European Union (EU) expressed their solidarity with France: “We call on the leaders of the whole world to work for dialogue and understanding between communities and religions, instead of division.”
According to the police, the suspect, later identified as Brahim Aouissaoui, a 21-year-old man, allegedly of Tunisian origin, was shot and taken to a hospital, where he is being held. Tunisia has opened an investigation into the case. According to the mayor of the city, Christian Estrosi, he shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) several times before being arrested.
The suspect reportedly arrived in Europe on one of the migrant boats that often dock on the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to Italian government security sources. From Lampedusa, I would have gone to Bari. Also according to these sources, joint Italian-French investigations are being carried out to reconstruct the displacements of Brahim Aouissaoui.
The area around the basilica, located on one of the busiest avenues in Nice, was isolated and the Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office was called in to lead the investigation.
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Two of the dead were attacked inside the church, the largest in the city: the 45-year-old sexton of the basilica, and an old woman, who was beheaded. According to the newspaper Le Monde, the attacker tried to behead her, but failed. A third woman, while injured, managed to escape to a nearby cafe, but could not resist and died.
Three more incidents were reported on Thursday, coinciding with the Mulude festivities, which mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Shortly after the crime in Nice, the police killed a man who threatened pedestrians in Montfavet, near Avignon, in the south of the country. He also shouted “God is great,” according to Europe 1 radio. Another man, an Afghan armed with a 12-inch knife, was detained near the Perrache train station in Lyon.
In Saudi Arabia, a man was arrested in Jeddah after wounding a guard at the French consulate. However, there is no evidence that the episodes were coordinated.
anti-terror efforts
The details of the crime in Nice refer to the murder of Paty, who died on the 16th. The official, a Chechen man, said he was seeking to punish him for showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo during a class. In 2015, the wording of the vehicle was the target of an attack that left 12 dead, also motivated by the publication of the drawings, considered blasphemous by Muslims.
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Over the past two weeks, Macron has said on several occasions that he will redouble efforts to prevent conservative Islamic beliefs from subverting French values such as freedom of expression and the secularism of the state and education, defending the right to publish cartoons. This generated strong rejection in some Islamic countries, with criticism from the governments of Qatar, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Demonstrations and boycotts of French products are being organized in several of these nations; North Africa, in particular, is an important market for Paris. The opposition is led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is waging a public dispute with Macron. On Saturday, Erdogan said the Frenchman needed “a mental health check”, prompting Paris to call his ambassador in Ankara.
Charlie Hebdo, in parallel, published this week a cartoon in which Erdogan appears sitting in an armchair, in his underwear and with a can of drink in his hand, lifting a woman’s tunic. The Turkish authorities called the drawing a “disgusting effort” to “spread racism and cultural hatred” and promised to take legal and diplomatic measures. But putting tensions aside, the Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected the “savage attack” on this farm, saying it sympathizes with the French people against violence and terrorism.
Pope criticizes attack
Thursday’s attack in Nice was strongly condemned by that of the French Council for the Muslim Faith, which called on all Muslims in the country to stop their Mulude celebrations out of respect for the victims. Pope Francis, for his part, said that “terrorism and violence can never be accepted” and that he would pray for the victims and their families:
“It is a time of pain, a time of confusion. Today’s attack has sown death in a place of love and comfort, like the house of the Lord, ”said the pontiff through his spokesman, Matteo Bruni.
In 2016, Nice was the scene of one of the most serious terrorist attacks to occur in France in recent years, when a Tunisian-born man threw a truck into the crowd celebrating Bastille Day, leaving 86 dead and 458 injured. Days later, a priest’s neck was cut off during a mass in Rouen.
