France terror latest: Macron says ‘we won’t give in’ after Nice beheading attack and Avignon gunman death

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Armed police enter church in Nice following multiple stabbings

France is reeling after a knife-wielding attacker shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in the French city of Nice on Thursday.

President Emmanuel Macron, declaring that France had been subject to an Islamist terrorist attack, said he would deploy thousands more soldiers to protect important French sites, such as places of worship and schools. He said France had been attacked "over our values, for our taste for freedom, for the ability on our soil to have freedom of belief". "And I say it with lots of clarity again today: we will not give any ground." 

Mr Macron also tweeted: “In France, there is only one community - the national community,” and “Whatever your religion, believer or not, we must unite at these times.” He told the people of Nice: ”We won’t give in to any terrorist thinking."

Hours later, a man wielding a handgun was shot dead by police near Avignon, around 250km away. He is believed to have been a member of the far-right Génération identitaire movement.

Please see below for how our coverage unfolded.

Key Points

• Macron: ‘France was attacked by Islamist terrorists’
• France raises security threat level to highest, PM says
• Nice attacker is a 21-year-old man of Tunisian origin, French media says
• Significance of today being Prophet Muhammad’s birthday
• Woman decapitated and others killed in France knife attack
• Knife attack on French consulate guard in Saudi Arabia 

[29 October 2020 17:14 · Jane Dalton]

Avignon attacker linked himself to white nationalist network

The Avignon attacker, believed to have been a member of the far-right Génération identitaire movement, appeared to be wearing a jacket displaying a Defend Europe logo, which refers to a string of anti-refugee operations by the group, writes our security correspondent Lizzie Dearden.

The pan-Europe white nationalist network, which is called Génération identitaire in France, spreads a conspiracy claiming that white people are being “replaced” and calls for the “remigration” of Muslims from the continent.

The Christchurch attacker, who massacred 51 victims at mosques in New Zealand last year, used the name of Generation Identity’s core ideology as the title of his manifesto.

It later emerged that he had donated money to the group and exchanged friendly emails with Austrian leader Martin Sellner.

On Thursday, Sellner posted a photo of the Avignon attacker’s body on his channel on the encrypted messaging service Telegram. “People are now claiming that he is ‘part of the Identitarian Movement’,” Sellner wrote. “He was wearing a jacket from the [Generation Identity] shop that was freely available online.”

Sellner, who was banned from entering the UK on security grounds in 2018, suggested the man was mentally ill and “incoherent”.

[29 October 2020 17:32 · Jane Dalton]

Tunisia launches investigation

Tunisia has opened an investigation into the suspected attacker in Nice, who is reported to be a Tunisian, according to an official in a specialised Tunisian court that counters militancy.

[29 October 2020 18:00 · Jane Dalton]

Muslims 'have a right to kill millions of French people', Malaysian ex-PM suggests

A former prime minister of Malaysia has sparked outrage by suggesting in a series of tweets that Muslims have a right “to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past”. 

Twitter took down one of his tweets, as Conrad Duncan reports:

[29 October 2020 18:13 · Jane Dalton]

EU leaders call for dialogue in communities and religions

European Union leaders have called on other world leaders to "work towards dialogue and understanding among communities and religions rather than division". 

In a joint statement they said they were shocked by the attacks in France and condemned the actions which were “attacks on their communal values”.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said “We must all stand up to defend those values that unite us.”

[29 October 2020 19:11 · Jane Dalton]

Avignon gunman psychologically unstable, say officials

A man shot and killed by police in the French city of Avignon on Thursday claimed allegiance to an anti-immigrant group and had assaulted a merchant of North African descent, authorities said.

Avignon prosecutor Philippe Guemas told broadcaster France Bleu that the assailant - who had refused to drop his gun - was a 33-year-old born in France "who had nothing to do with the Muslim religion" and appeared to be "psychologically unstable".

[29 October 2020 19:15 · Jane Dalton]

Tunisian murder suspect identified

The Tunisian suspect in the three killings in Nice is Brahim Aouissaoui, 21, a Tunisian security source and a French police source said.

Aouissaoui is originally from the village of Sidi Omar Bouhajla near Kairouan, but had lately been living in Sfax and police visited his family there on Thursday, the Tunisian source said.

[29 October 2020 19:38 · Jane Dalton]

France grieves again

(AFP via Getty Images)

People light candles outside the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption Basilica in Nice in tribute to the three victims of the knife attacker.