Nice (France): The man who killed three persons here in a church is a young Tunisian. The Tunisian man was armed with a knife and carrying a copy of the Quran. He attacked worshippers in a French church and while killing three people beheaded a woman. The Tunisian man is also fighting for life as he sustained serious injuries as he fought with the police.
The attack in Mediterranean city of Nice was the third in less than two months that French authorities have attributed to Muslim extremists.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he would immediately implement corrective measures. The number of soldiers deployed to protect schools and religious sites will be increased from around 3,000 to 7,000.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said the suspect is a Tunisian born in 1999. He reached the Italian island of Lampedusa, a key landing point for migrants crossing in boats from North Africa, September 20. The Tunisian then travelled to Bari, a port city in southern Italy, October 9.
Also read: Woman beheaded, 2 others killed in knife attack in France’s Nice city
Prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard did not specify when he arrived here. The identity of the man was also held back for investigative reasons.
The French prosecutor said the attacker was not on the radar of intelligence agencies as a potential threat. Video cameras recorded the man entering the Nice train station at 6.47 am. He then changed his shoes and turned his coat inside out before heading for the church. The church was situated some 400 metres away from the train station.
A knife with a 17-centimetre blade used in the attack was found near him along with a bag containing another two knives. Those however, were not used in the attack. He had spent some 30 minutes inside the church before police arrived via a side entrance. After advancing down a corridor in the church they came face-to-face with (the attacker) whom they neutralized. Witnesses heard the man crying ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he advanced on police.
Police initially used an electric gun then fired their service revolvers. Ricard said 14 bullet casings were found on the ground.
Ricard detailed a gruesome scene inside the church where two of the victims died. “A 60-year-old woman suffered a very deep throat slitting, like a decapitation,” he said. “A 55-year-old man also suffered deep, fatal throat cuts,” he added. The third victim, a 44-year-old woman, managed to flee the church alive but died at a nearby restaurant.
The three were killed ‘only because they were in the church at that moment’, Ricard told reporters. He said investigators are looking for potential complicity in the ‘complex’ probe.
The attack here came amid a fierce debate in France and beyond over the re-publication of the Muhammad caricatures by satirical newspaper ‘Charlie Hebdo’.