A Tunisian illegal immigrant who had arrived in France in the past few weeks stabbed to death a caretaker and two women in a church in Nice yesterday, attempting to behead two of the victims.
The attacker was identified by police as Brahim Aouissaoui, 21, who had travelled to France after landing by boat on the Italian island of Lampedusa in September, where he was placed in quarantine before being released with an order to leave Italian territory.
The terrorist attack was the third in the country since the recent start of the trial of suspects in the Charlie Hebdo magazine massacre. President Macron flew to the scene at the Notre Dame basilica, where he said it was “France that is being attacked”, vowing the country “will not give up on our values”.
Police shot and critically wounded the attacker, who had burst into the church in the heart of the city when it opened and cut the throat of a woman aged 60 near the font and tried to behead her while shouting Allahu akbar. He slashed the throat of the church worker, Vincent Loquès, 54, who also died on the spot. A woman aged 44 who fled to a nearby bar, died of her wounds.
The country was put on a higher terrorism alert as ministers vowed resolve amid Islamist anger over the caricatures of Muhammad that have reappeared in the satirical magazine, leading to fierce criticism of Mr Macron and boycotts of French goods in several Muslim countries. The magazine was attacked in 2015 by two brothers who killed 12 people at its offices.
The attacker continued to invoke Allah after he was shot at the entrance of the church, Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, said.
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