In both attacks, the perpetrators shouted Allah akbar (God is great), which is what Islamic terrorists are doing in the attack. The case in Nice is being investigated by the prosecutor’s office as a murder with a terrorist motive; according to the DPA, there is no indication of such an attack in the Avignon attack.
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Yan St-Pierre, a counter-terrorism consultant from Mosecon, told France24 that in both cases all indications were that the perpetrators had acted alone.
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According to Le Figaro, the police identified the detained man in Nice in the afternoon. According to the French newspaper, this is a 21-year-old Tunisian Brahim Aoussaoui. The daily also stated that the man arrived in Europe in September – as a migrant he arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where he was quarantined. The Italian authorities then ordered him to leave the territory of Italy. He has been moving on French territory since the beginning of October.
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President Emmanuel Macron also arrived in the French seaside town around 2 p.m. He told a news conference that France would double the number of troops to strengthen the protection of monuments, schools and tabernacles to 7,000.
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“It was an Islamist attack on Catholics. The whole nation stands and will stand on the side of Catholics in order to guarantee freedom of religion in our country. Strength and unity are the direction we must follow, “said Macron.
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During another attack in Avignon, police shot a man who was threatening people. According to Le Monde, the perpetrator is known to have previously threatened an Arab businessman and was a member of the right-wing Génération identitaire group. The authorities have been monitoring the group for a long time, considering dissolving it, but eventually relinquishing the court, fearing that they did not have strong enough arguments for the tribunal to rule in their favor.
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The attacker at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Nice cut off a woman’s head
Foto: Eric Gaillard, Reuters
Police also intervened in Lyon, where they detained an Afghan woman armed with a knife, whom they considered a threat. Le Monde said it had been monitored by the police for a long time and was a “serious” incident.
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In France, the highest level of terrorism warning came into force after Thursday’s attacks. The state defense council should meet on Friday.
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