https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/one-person-killed-after-knife-attack-in-french-city-of-nice-media?utm_source=emarsys&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ST_Newsletter_PM&utm_term=Three+dead+in+knife+attack+in+French+church%2C+woman+beheaded&utm_content=29%2F10%2F2020
Three dead in knife attack in French church, woman beheaded NICE (REUTERS, AFP) - France raised the security alert for French territory to the highest level yesterday after a knifeman murdered three people at a church, beheading at least one of them in what was described as a terror attack in the city of Nice. Prime Minister Jean Castex, who made the announcement at Parliament, called the attack “as cowardly as it is barbaric”. President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the site of the attack, vowed that “France will not give up on our values” as he urged people of all religions to unite and not “give in to the spirit of division”. Meanwhile, French police arrested a man armed with a long knife in the south-eastern French city of Lyon yesterday as he was about to board a tram. The suspect, an Afghan national in his 20s who was dressed in traditional Afghan clothes, “seemed ready to take action”, Mr Pierre Oliver, the mayor of Lyon’s Second Arrondissement said. In Montfavet, near the city of Avignon, police said they shot dead a man who had earlier threatened passers-by with a handgun. According to French radio station Europe 1, the man had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) Similarly, the Nice assailant had repeatedly shouted “‘Allahu Akbar’ even while under medication” after he was injured during his arrest, the city’s mayor Christian Estrosi said. The Nice attacker has been identified as Brahim Aoussaoui, a 21-year-old Tunisian who arrived in Europe late last month. A man and a woman died at the Basilica of Notre-Dame, in the heart of the Mediterranean resort city, while a third person died from injuries after seeking refuge in a nearby bar, a police source told Agence France-Presse. The dead man was the church’s sacristan, who had opened up the doors around 8.30am. The first mass of the day was not due to start for another two hours. But soon after the 45-year-old started work, a man armed with a knife entered the church and slit his throat, beheaded an elderly woman and badly wounded another woman, police said. French anti-terror prosecutors have opened an inquiry into what Mr Estrosi called an “Islamo-fascist attack”. The attack comes while France is still reeling from the beheading earlier this month of French middle school teacher Samuel Paty <https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/france-honours-beheaded-teacher-as-judge-questions-suspects> by a man of Chechen origin. The attacker had said he wanted to punish Mr Paty <https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/beheaded-french-teacher-was-target-of-angry-social-media-campaign> for showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a civics lesson. *MORE ON THIS TOPIC* 3 dead in French church knife attack: Other similar attacks in France since 2015 <https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/main-knife-attacks-in-france-since-2015> French police arrest Afghan armed with knife in Lyon <https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/french-police-arrest-afghan-armed-with-knife> Since Mr Paty’s killing, French officials – backed by many ordinary citizens – have re-asserted the right to display the cartoons, <https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/france-to-rally-in-solidarity-defiance-after-beheading-of-teacher> and the images have been widely displayed at marches in solidarity with the killed teacher. At a memorial service for Mr Paty on Wednesday last week, Mr Macron said that France would not “give up” the caricatures and pledged to tackle extreme Islamism in the country, which outraged many Muslim-majority countries <https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/iran-summons-french-diplomat-over-alleged-insult-against-prophet-mohammad>, with some governments accusing Mr Macron of pursuing an anti-Islam agenda. Protests have erupted in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq, Gaza and Turkey. In Saudi Arabia, a Saudi citizen wounded a guard in a knife attack at the French consulate in the city of Jeddah yesterday. “The assailant was apprehended by Saudi security forces immediately after the attack. The guard was taken to hospital and his life is not in danger,” the French Embassy in Riyadh said in a statement. Malaysia has said it strongly condemned “provocative acts” that would defame Islam while Indonesia’s Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin had decried Mr Macron’s comments that “generalises Muslims”. But European governments have come out in support of France, with leaders from Germany, Italy and the Netherlands publicly expressing their solidarity with Mr Macron. *MORE ON THIS TOPIC* French mayor threatened with decapitation just week after murder of school teacher <https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/french-mayor-threatened-with-decapitation-just-week-after-murder-of-school-teacher> French police raid Islamist groups after teacher's beheading <https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/french-police-raid-islamist-groups-after-teachers-beheading>
