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Thursday, October 29, 2020
France has not yet recovered from the shock over the murder of teacher Paty; another attacker brutally strikes. Three people lose their lives in the south of France. President Macron finds clear words.
Again horror and horror in France: three people were killed in a brutal knife attack in a church in the metropolis of Nice, in southern France. The alleged perpetrator, said to be from Tunisia, was seriously injured and detained by police officers on Thursday. France declared the highest terrorist alert level and President Emmanuel Macron spoke of an “Islamist terrorist attack.” France had been attacked, he said in Nice. It is the third attack in France in a few weeks. The act sparked international sympathy and consternation.
The attack occurred around 9 am at the Notre-Dame church in the middle of Nice’s shopping street. The alleged killer yelled “Allahu akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic), anti-terror prosecutor Jean-François Ricard reported late at night. A 60-year-old woman had her throat cut deeply, Ricard spoke of a kind of beheading. The 55-year-old sacristan who was killed was also seriously wounded in the throat. A third seriously injured victim had fled. The 44-year-old woman later succumbed to her injuries outside the church.
Emergency services found a Koran and telephones at the scene. The murder weapon, a knife about 17 centimeters long, was also discovered near the attacker. The attacker was carrying an Italian Red Cross document, in the name of a Tunisian citizen born in 1999. Ricard added that he entered the Italian island of Lampedusa in September. On October 9 he was then in Bari, southern Italy. The antiterrorist prosecutor’s office is investigating, among other things, a murder related to a terrorist project.
Castex: “Barbarian Attack”
Prime Minister Jean Castex spoke of a “vile” and “barbaric” attack and announced a firm response from the government. The “Attentat Urgency” stage of the “Vigipirate” anti-terrorism alert plan was declared, he said at the Paris National Assembly. This level of alert allows for the extraordinary mobilization of resources in the fight against terrorism.
Macron announced greater protection for churches and schools. The internal military anti-terrorist operation “Sentinelle”, which has been running for some time, will be increased from 3,000 to 7,000 soldiers. “Today the entire nation stands behind our fellow Catholics,” Macron said near the crime scene. One must not give in to the spirit of division.
The 42-year-old had traveled to the southern French metropolis in the afternoon and exchanged ideas with other security forces. After the brutal attack in the afternoon, the bells rang in numerous churches in the country at 3:00 pm sharp.
Series of attacks
Just two weeks ago, the brutal murder of teacher Samuel Paty had caused enormous horror across the country. According to investigators, the 18-year-old attacker’s motive was that Paty had shown cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a class on the subject of freedom of expression. Paty’s body was found decapitated.
At the end of September, a young man injured two people with a knife in front of the old newsroom of the satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo”. At the start of the trial around the brutal horror series in 2015, in which numerous illustrators from the newspaper were murdered, the magazine republished cartoons of Mohammed. Here, too, the attacker gave the cartoons as a motive.
Incident at the consulate in Jeddah
There were more incidents in France on Thursday, but a connection to the attack in Nice could not initially be confirmed. Police killed an alleged attacker in Avignon, southern France, who is said to have threatened passersby with a weapon. According to police circles, initially there was no evidence of a terrorist background. AFP reported that the man should have had mental health problems. A man armed with a knife was arrested in Lyon. No one was injured, the man was known to security circles.
A security officer was also attacked and slightly injured at the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The perpetrator was arrested. The exact background to the act was initially unclear. The French embassy in Riyadh spoke of a “knife attack” in a message. The French in Saudi Arabia were also asked to be “extremely vigilant.”
The EU declares its solidarity with France
Worldwide sympathy was great after the murderous attack. According to the state news agency SPA, Saudi Arabia clearly condemned the attack. “Such extremist acts are contrary to all human religions and beliefs,” the Foreign Ministry said. At the same time, it is important to reject those “behaviors” that lead to hatred, violence and extremism, the ministry said, without being more specific.
The top of the EU institutions gave France their solidarity. The whole of Europe stands in solidarity with the country, the head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote on Twitter. Russian President Vladimir Putin also expressed “deep sympathy.” Pope Francis expressed his closeness and compassion for the mourners. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, called the attack “appalling”. US President Trump wrote on Twitter that the United States was “on the side of France in this fight.” Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned the act as an “heinous act of violence” and emphasized: “We must counter the violence and Islamist motives that are apparently behind it with all determination.”
Nice was hit by a terrorist attack in 2016, killing 86 people. France has been ravaged by a wave of Islamist terrorism for years.
