Not two weeks after the horrifying decapitation of history teacher Samuel Paty, in Paris, France, another brutal terrorist attack, in which a woman was partially beheaded and two others were killed, has occurred.
Several people were injured in the attack. The assailant shouted “Allahu Akbar” several times, according to Nice’s mayor Christian Estrosi. The attacker, a 21 year old Tunisian national who entered France via Italy, was shot by police and is alive in hospital.
France, along with the the rest of the world, has been shaken yet again by the brutality of this terror, and the shocking attack on freedom and the Western way of life.
Other Attacks Today
- In Avignon, a suspect waving a knife and threatening the public was shot dead by police. Avignon is 260km or so away from Nice.
- In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a man was arrested after attacking a guard at the French Consulate.
- In Sartrouville, a suspect was arrested after he allegedly told his father he wanted to carry out a similar attack to the one in Nice before leaving home, Le Parisien reported. The father reportedly warned the police who rushed to the area and arrested the man as he was driving near the Saint-Martin church. Sartrouville is 950km away from Nice.
The Build-Up
Since the slain history teacher Samuel Paty started discussing the infamous Charlie Hebdo cartoons in class, there have been protests against him and those defending the right to freedom of speech. On 16 October, after Paty was murdered in the gruesome beheading, French President Macron expressed his deep condolences for the Mr Paty and his loved ones and defended freedom of speech and the Western way of life.
With all of this at play, France and its President Macron have been the object of protest throughout much the Islamist world and the hashtag #boycottfrenchproducts has become an online movement.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 95, is a well respected figure and has millions of followers. He tweeted today: “Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past…”.
After a public uproar the tweet has since been removed from Twitter, however his writings are still available on his blog, the link to which is available on his Twitter page. Today’s Tweets are all there.
Point number 12 below is the Tweet which was removed from Twitter.
Muslim leaders around the world condemned the attacks today.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s Statement
President Macron arrived in Nice and expressed his support for the mayor of Nice and the people of France. He called on the nation to stand together against these attacks.
He stated that they are getting attacked because they have a great love of freedom and togetherness. He stated that they will never give up and that they will increase the military presence from 3,000 to 7,000 to patrol the entire country, protecting their citizens against terrorism. Security will increase for places of worship and schools.
He stands firm that they will continue taking actions to prevent attacks such as this from happening again. He reiterated that the nation stands strong together regardless of religion and background, and that people must not fear.
In a statement of unity he said that in France there is only one community: the French community.
