Brings terror back to Nice
Hamel at a Mass at a Catholic church in Saint-étienne-du-rouvray, Normandy, northern France. The Islamic State later claimed responsibility.
Mr Macron expressed special condolences to Catholics in France. The Church condemned what it called “an unspeakable attack” and warned: “Christians must not become symbols to be slaughtered.”
French MPS, meanwhile, temporarily suspended a debate on the new national l ockdown to observe a moment’s silence in remembrance of those killed during the attack. Bells tolled in churches all around France in tribute to the victims.
Given the ongoing threat, France yesterday raised its terror alert to maximum level and Mr Macron announced that it would more than double the number of soldiers patrolling the streets from 3,000 to 7,000 – levels not seen since the 2015 Paris attacks.
They will protect key French sites, such as places of worship and schools
The Islamist attacks follow fury across the Muslim world at President Macron’s reaction to the murder of a schoolteacher two weeks ago.
Samuel Paty, a geography and history teacher, was beheaded outside his school in a Paris suburb after he showed cartoons of Mohammed to his class in a lesson on free speech.
The assailant, an 18-year-old Chechen named Abdullakh Anzorov, apparently acted after angry parents denounced the teacher on social media.
Mr Macron insisted that France’s cherished tradition of freedom of expression, including mocking religion, must be protected, and promised a crackdown on Islamist extremism, including closing mosques and organisations accused of fomenting radicalism and violence.
That sparked condemnation from the leaders of several Muslim-majority nations, notably Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who questioned Mr Macron’s mental health and likened treatment of Muslims in France to Jews under Nazism.
Turkey denounced the Nice attack and expressed “solidarity” with France, but added: ”We call on the French leadership to avoid further inflammatory rhetoric against Muslims and focus, instead, on finding the perpetrators of this and other acts of violence.”
Jean-yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, yesterday proffered “a message of peace to the Muslim world,” saying France was “the country of tolerance”. “Do not listen to the voices that want to stoke distrust,” he said in parliament. Condemnations of the attack poured in from elsewhere.
Boris Johnson said: “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and the UK stands steadfastly with France against terror and intolerance.”
Donald Trump tweeted: “Our hearts are with the people of France. America stands with our oldest ally in this fight.”
Pope Francis said: ‘I pray for the victims, for their families and for the beloved French people, so that they can react to evil with good.’
France has been on high alert since the January 2015 massacre at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which marked the beginning of a wave of jihadist attacks. Tensions had already been high since the trial opened last month for 14 suspected accomplices.
The paper marked the start of the court proceedings by republishing the cartoons of Mohammed that angered millions of Muslims worldwide.
Just days later, an 18-year-old man from Pakistan seriously injured two people with a meat cleaver outside Charlie Hebdo’s former offices in Paris.
Abdallah Zekri, director general of the French Council of Muslim Worship, said: “I can only denounce as strongly as possible this act of cowardice against the innocent.”
He called on French Muslims to cancel festivities to mark the Mawlid, or “the Prophet’s Birthday”, which ended yesterday, “in solidarity with the victims and their loved ones”.