“Allahu Akbar!” A woman was beheaded and two others were killed by a “terrorist” wielding a knife with the slogan “No.” At a church in the French city of Nice – one of three attacks targeting the country on Thursday.
Mayor Christian Astrosi Said on Twitter The vicious attack took place in the Notre Dame Basilica of the Mediterranean city and police detained the attacker.
Astrosi called the attacker a “terrorist” who shouted “Allahu Akbar!” – Arabic for “God is great” – repeatedly the police cooperated with him.
“There is no doubt about the meaning of his gestures,” Meyer said.
According to the BBC, two people were killed inside the church, an elderly woman who was beheaded, and a man who had his throat cut, according to the BBC.
An injured woman managed to escape to a nearby cafe, but later succumbed to her injuries, a police source told Agence France-Presse.
No group was running at the time of the attack, but the church will open at 8 a.m. and Father Philip Asso, who is on duty at the church, told the outlet, “People come to pray at all hours.”
a Video On July 14, 2016, police were captured online while running inside the church – less than half a mile from the spot where another attacker rammed a truck into a Bastille Day crowd, killing 86 people, on July 14, 2016.
The mayor told reporters Thursday that the suspected knife attacker was taken into police custody, while he was taken into custody, he was on his way to the hospital, he is alive.
The police officer said the attacker was working alone and police were not searching for other suspects.
It later emerged that someone had managed to sound the alarm through a special defense system installed by the city, the BBC reported.
Daniel Connell, a 32-year-old waiter at the Grand Cafe de Leon near the church, said it was a short time at 9 a.m. when “shots were fired and everyone ran and participated.”
“A woman came straight in from the church and said, ‘Run! Run! “Someone has stabbed people,” he told AFP, and dozens of police and rescue vehicles quickly sealed off the area.
This horrific incident is consistent with two other attacks targeting France.
A Saudi man was arrested in Jeddah after attacking a guard with a “sharp instrument” at the French consulate, state media reported. The Saudi Press Agency did not specify the motive for the attack.
The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a gathering of Saudi security forces. The guard was taken to hospital and his life is not in danger. The embassy said in a statement.
And in the south of France, a man was shot and killed by police in Montfavet, near the city of Avignon, after he earlier threatened passengers with a handgun. According to radio station Europe 1, he shouted “Allahu Akbar!” No slogans.
“Enough,” Astrosi added, according to the agency France-Press. “Now is the time for France to disassociate itself from the law of peace, so that Islam-fascism can definitely be eradicated from our region.”
He said on Twitter: “Everything points to a terrorist attack.”
Astrosi said the victims were killed “horribly”.
“The methods used against the brave teacher at the conference St. Onrin, Samuel Patty, no doubt match the methods,” he said, referring to a teacher who was beheaded in a recent attack in Paris by 18-year-old Chechen man Abdullaq Anzorov as punishment. Showing students cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
According to CNN, Interior Minister Gerald Durmani said he was chairing an emergency meeting in response to Thursday’s attack.
The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said it had launched an investigation into the attack.
France has been issuing a high alert for terrorist attacks since January 15. The trial of the comrades suspected in the September 15 massacre of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo is underway in Paris.
It was not immediately clear what the motive behind the nice attack was, or whether there was any connection with the cartoon, which Muslims consider derogatory.
Legislators in parliament observed a minute of silence following Thursday’s attack, before Prime Minister Jean-Claude Stakes and other ministers left for an emergency meeting with President Emanuel Macron, who is expected to head to the city.
A wave of jihadist attacks, often by so-called “lone wolf” attackers, has killed more than 250 people in France since 2015.
The recent attack was condemned by France’s allies, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressing solidarity with France and EU Parliament Speaker David Sassoli: “We all feel this pain in Europe.
“We have a duty to stand together against violence and against those who seek to unite and spread hatred,” he said on Twitter.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte condemned the “vile attack” but vowed not to “shake the general front in defending the values of freedom and peace.”
“I condemn as much as possible this act of cowardice against the innocent,” said Abdullah Zekri, director general of the French Council for Muslim Worship.
He called on French Muslims to cancel the celebrations of Mawlid or Prophet’s birthday, which ends on Thursday, “in solidarity with the victims and their loved ones.”
With post wire
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