French cops crack down on jihadis
PARIS: French police have conducted a series of raids targeting Islamist networks, three days after the beheading of a history teacher who showed his pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin vowed there would be “not a minute’s respite for enemies of the Republic”, after tens of thousands took part in rallies countrywide on Sunday to honour teacher Samuel Paty and defend freedom of expression.
A silent rally was planned on Tuesday evening (local time), as well as a ceremony on Wednesday at the Sorbonne attended by President Emmanuel Macron.
Fifteen people have been detained so far, including four pupils who may have helped the killer — an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who was killed by police — to identify the teacher in return for payment. Police carried out 40 raids on Monday, mostly around Paris, with many more planned.
Mr Darmanin said the government would also tighten its grip on institutions and charities with suspected links to Islamist networks.
Paty, 47, was attacked on his way home from the junior high school where he taught in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, 40km northwest of Paris.
A witness said he was nearby when the attack happened, sheltering with his children.
“There was just a beheaded man in front of our house,” he said, adding he then saw the assailant take pictures. A photo of the teacher and a message confessing to his murder was found on the mobile phone of his killer, Abdullakh Anzorov.