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Three people were killed and others injured Thursday in a knife attack in Nice, southern France, while the police killed a fourth person near the city of Avignon “after they threatened passersby with weapons. “.
Nice police said the attack took place in the vicinity of the “Our Lady” church in the city center at 9 am local time.
It indicated that the aggressor was arrested and being interrogated.
Agence France-Presse quoted Nice police as saying that at least one of the victims was killed.
He explained that a man and a woman were killed in the “Notre Dame” church, while a third died after being seriously injured in a nearby bar where he had taken refuge.
For his part, Christian Estrosi, mayor of Nice, stressed that the first data indicated that the attack was terrorist.
Videos and photos on social media showed French police forces surrounding the attack.
The French interior minister said a security operation is underway in Nice.
The Reuters news agency quoted the mayor as saying the suspect kept repeating “God is great,” even after police arrested him.
The mayor said French President Emmanuel Macron will arrive in the city soon.
The Antiterrorist Prosecutor’s Office announced the opening of an investigation into “a murder and attempted murder linked to a terrorist organization and a criminal terrorist gang.”
“The situation is now under control,” said police spokeswoman Florence Gavilo.
In the same context, the French police said they had shot dead a person in Montfaveh, near the city of Avignon (southern France) after he threatened passersby with a gun. French Radio Europe 1 reported that the man repeated “God is great.”
The attack comes amid the wrath of Muslims in France and around the world after French President Emmanuel Macron’s defense of publishing insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his earlier statement. that the Islamic religion is experiencing a crisis everywhere.
In its first reaction to today’s attack, the Kremlin said that it was “unacceptable to harm religious sentiments and it is also unacceptable to kill people.”
For his part, the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, called on Europeans to “unite against violence and against those who seek to incite and spread hatred.”
“I am deeply shocked and saddened by the news of the horrible attack in Nice. We all feel this pain in Europe,” Sassoli said in a tweet.
The Catholic Church condemned the Nice attack, saying that “Christians should not be a symbol to be killed.”
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