I am going to have to return to this theme tomorrow
France Placed On
Maximum Security Alert
After 2nd 'Decapitation'
Terror Attack In 2 Weeks
29 October, 2020
Update (1045ET): French President Emmanuel Macron has delivered remarks on Thursday's attack from Nice, France, condemning today's "radical Islamic terror attack", language similar to what he said earlier this month after the attack that killed teacher Samuel Paty.
Meanwhile, earlier, on CNN...
The big question now: Will Macron's comments provoke another round of protests like this one?
Or will the world be more understanding of France's plight?
* * *
Update (1000ET): In a statement, the Vatican said that "terrorism, violence is never acceptable."
"It's a time of pain, a time of confusion. Terrorism and violence can never be accepted. Today's attack sowed death in a place of love and consolation, the house of the Lord..."
The statement notably made no mention of radical Islamic terror.
* * *
Update (0905ET): In response to Thursday's attack, PM Emmanuel Macron has raised the country's security alert to its highest possible level.
Other confrontations and attacks were reported Thursday in the southern French city of Avignon and in the Saudi city of Jiddah, but it was not immediately clear if they were linked to the attack in Nice. In Avignon on Thursday, an armed man was shot after refusing to drop his gun.
The attacker has been hospitalized after being shot by police at the church, which is located less than a kilometer from the site on the boardwalk where another terrorist ran down pedestrians in another gruesome attack that unfurled in 2016.
Three attacks have now unfolded in the past 2 months, since the beginning of a trial of 14 people linked to the January 2015 killings at Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket by gunmen who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. Thursday's attacker was believed to be acting alone and police are not searching for other assailants, they said.
* * *
Update (0835ET): As more details pour in from the French media, it's looking increasingly obvious that locals should have been better prepared for the attack, as several local priests are saying that they were warned about the possibility of an attack days ago.
The timing, they say, is intended to coincide with the Catholic All Saint's Day holiday on Nov. 1. Some in terror circles are making a connection between the Day of the Dead and killing non-believers.
Also, according to eyewitness reports, the attack unfolded inside the church, during morning services, in full view of the priest and clergy. At least two of the three victims were killed inside the church.
Priests said they received threats in the days before the attack.
"We had been warned for two or three days that there might be some additional attacks with the approach of All Saints' Day, since some made a link with the Christian feast of the dead and the fact of increasing the number of dead."
Nice's mayor called for a national response to the attack...
"I have asked that all churches be closed, that all places of worship be closed, that all public places where there is concern, nurseries or the like, be closed for the moment,” Estrosi said.
...while condemning the ideology of "islamofacism" that he said inspired the attacker.
* * *
Update (0800ET): Just as a front-page Charlie Hebdo illustration was provoking a major diplomatic snafu after criticizing President Erdogan, Turkey has spoken up to "strongly condemn" Thursday's attack in Nice, despite Turkish officials joining the chorus of critics suggesting Macron's new terror crackdown was "Islamophobic".
We imagine we'll be hearing more apologies like this from the leaders of Pakistan and other countries who have criticized France over its crackdown on radical terror.
* * *
Update (0730ET): Reuters has confirmed that three have now been confirmed killed, with one woman having been decapitated, by the terrorist who carried out this morning's attack. The attack was carried out during a morning gathering at Notre Dame church, the largest church in the city of Nice.
One of those killed was the Church warden.
As top French law enforcement officials meet with the minister of the Interior, French President Emmanuel Macron is on his way to Nice.
To recap:
* * *
In what appears to be the second major French terror attack in two weeks, at least two have been killed and one critically injured in a brutal knife attack that occurred during the morning service of a local Catholic church - Notre Dame basilica - in Nice.
In an echo of the brutal attack on a schoolteacher that recently galvanized the French government to launch a major anti-terror crackdown, reports claimed that at least one of the victims had been decapitated, like the teacher was.
The incident is believed to be terror-related according to the city's mayor. The suspect is reportedly alive, and has been taken into custody by police. A security perimeter has been set up around the church the city said, and it's almost completely empty except for armed guards.
Witnesses on social media reported hearing shots fired as armed police responded to the incident, one reported hearing at least seven shots. The national police in France have urged the public to avoid the area, while cautioning that there's no need to panic.
He wrote on Twitter: “I am on site with the @PoliceNat06 and the @pmdenice who arrested the perpetrator of the attack. I confirm that everything suggests a terrorist attack in the Basilica of Notre-Dame de #Nice06.”
Estrosi told reporters that "Islamofacism" is at the heart of these attacks, and that the attacker reportedly shouted "Allah Akbar" - or "God is Great" in Arabic.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he was convening a crisis meeting at the ministry in Paris.
In the aftermath of the most recent French terror attack on Samuel Paty, the high school teacher who was decapitated for sharing cartoons from Charlie Hebdo in class, President Emmanuel Macron launched a major crackdown on Islamic terror in France, which has been the worst-hit of Europe's major countries by Islamic terror, largely due to its 6 million-plus Muslim population.
Earlier this month, some leaders of Muslim countries denounced Emmanuel Macron's comments on Islamic Terror as "racist".
Of course, these same leaders do nothing when China imprisons and tortures millions of Muslims.
This latest attack, we suspect, will only serve to further galvanize public support for an aggressive dismantling of terror networks, while also directing more support to Marine Le Pen and the French right.
https://www.rt.com/news/504921-france-attacks-failed-integration/
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