ROMANS-SUR-ISERE, FRANCE: A Sudanese refugee went on a knife rampage in a town in south-eastern France on Saturday, killing two people in what is being treated as a terrorist attack.
The attack in broad daylight, which President Emmanuel Macron called "an odious act", took place with the country on lockdown in a bid to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Counter-terrorism prosecutors have launched an investigation into "murder linked to a terrorist enterprise" after the rampage in a string of shops in Romans-sur-Isere, a riverside town with a population of about 35,000.
The assailant, identified only as Abdallah A.-O., a refugee in his 30s from Sudan who lives in the town, was arrested without a fight by police.
"He was found on his knees on the pavement praying in Arabic," the prosecutor's office said.
According to witnesses cited by local radio station France Bleu Drome Ardeche, he shouted "Allah Akbar!"(God is Greatest) as he stabbed his victims.
"Anyone who had the misfortune to find themselves in his way were attacked," town mayor Marie-Helene Thoraval told AFP.
David Olivier Reverdy, from the National Police Alliance union, said the assailant had called on police to kill him when they came to arrest him.
The suspect first went into a tobacco shop where he attacked the owner and his wife, Thoraval said.
He then went into a butcher's shop where he seized another knife before heading to the town centre and attacking people in the street outside a bakery.
"He took a knife, jumped over the counter, and stabbed a customer, then ran away," the butcher's shop owner Ludovic Breyton told AFP.
"My wife tried to help the victim but in vain."
Interior Minister Cristophe Castaner, who visited the scene, said two people were killed and five others injured.
"This morning, a man embarked on a terrorist journey," he said.
The initial investigation has "brought to light a determined, murderous course likely to seriously disturb public order through intimidation or terror", according to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office (PNAT).
It said that during a search of the suspect's home, "handwritten documents with religious connotations were found in which the author complains in particular that he lives in a country of non-believers".
The suspect, who obtained refugee status in 2017, was not known to police or intelligence services in France or Europe, PNAT said.
Macron denounced the attack in a statement on Twitter.
"All the light will be shed on this odious act which casts a shadow over our country which has already been hit hard in recent weeks," he said.
France is in its third week of a national lockdown over COVID-19, with all but essential businesses ordered to shut and people told to stay at home.
The country has been on terror alert since a wave of deadly jihadist bombings and shootings in Paris in 2015.
In all, 258 people have been killed in France in what have been deemed terrorist attacks.
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France launches terror probe after two killed in stabbing spree
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France launches terror probe after two killed in stabbing spree
- Sudanese refugee went on a rampage in a string of shops in Romans-sur-Isere
- President Emmanuel Macron called the attack 'an odious act'
Afghans mourn villagers killed in Pakistani strikes
- Afghans gathered around a mass grave Sunday to bury villagers killed in overnight air strikes by Pakistan, which said its military targeted militants
BIHSUD: Afghans gathered around a mass grave Sunday to bury villagers killed in overnight air strikes by Pakistan, which said its military targeted militants.
The overnight attacks killed at least 18 people and were the most extensive since border clashes in October, which left more than 70 dead on both sides and wounded hundreds.
“The house was completely destroyed. My children and family members were there. My father and my sons were there. All of them were killed,” said Nezakat, a 35-year-old farmer in Bihsud district, who only gave one name.
Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups, in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Daesh group, a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “people’s homes have been destroyed, they have targeted civilians, they have committed this criminal act” with the bombardment of Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
Residents from around the remote Bihsud district in Nangarhar joined searchers to look for bodies under the rubble, an AFP journalist said, using shovels and a digger.
“People here are ordinary people. The residents of this village are our relatives. When the bombing happened, one person who survived was shouting for help,” said neighbor Amin Gul Amin, 37.
Nangarhar police told AFP the bombardment started at around midnight and hit three districts, with those killed all in a civilian’s house.
“Twenty-three members of his family were buried under the rubble, of whom 18 were killed and five wounded,” said police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad.
Strikes elsewhere in Nangarhar wounded two others, while in Paktika an AFP journalist saw a destroyed guesthouse but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
- ‘Calculated response’ -
Afghanistan’s defense ministry said it will “deliver an appropriate and calculated response” to the Pakistani strikes.
The two countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani military action killed 70 Afghan civilians between October and December, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but they have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
The deteriorating relationship has hit people in both countries, with the land border largely shut for months.
Pakistan said Sunday that despite repeated urging by Islamabad, the Taliban authorities have failed to act against militant groups using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Afghan government has denied harboring militants.
Islamabad launched the strikes after a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other such attacks more recently in northwestern Pakistan.
The Daesh group had claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160 in the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008.
The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, also claimed a deadly suicide bombing at a Kabul restaurant last month.
The overnight attacks killed at least 18 people and were the most extensive since border clashes in October, which left more than 70 dead on both sides and wounded hundreds.
“The house was completely destroyed. My children and family members were there. My father and my sons were there. All of them were killed,” said Nezakat, a 35-year-old farmer in Bihsud district, who only gave one name.
Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups, in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Daesh group, a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “people’s homes have been destroyed, they have targeted civilians, they have committed this criminal act” with the bombardment of Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
Residents from around the remote Bihsud district in Nangarhar joined searchers to look for bodies under the rubble, an AFP journalist said, using shovels and a digger.
“People here are ordinary people. The residents of this village are our relatives. When the bombing happened, one person who survived was shouting for help,” said neighbor Amin Gul Amin, 37.
Nangarhar police told AFP the bombardment started at around midnight and hit three districts, with those killed all in a civilian’s house.
“Twenty-three members of his family were buried under the rubble, of whom 18 were killed and five wounded,” said police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad.
Strikes elsewhere in Nangarhar wounded two others, while in Paktika an AFP journalist saw a destroyed guesthouse but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
- ‘Calculated response’ -
Afghanistan’s defense ministry said it will “deliver an appropriate and calculated response” to the Pakistani strikes.
The two countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani military action killed 70 Afghan civilians between October and December, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but they have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
The deteriorating relationship has hit people in both countries, with the land border largely shut for months.
Pakistan said Sunday that despite repeated urging by Islamabad, the Taliban authorities have failed to act against militant groups using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Afghan government has denied harboring militants.
Islamabad launched the strikes after a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other such attacks more recently in northwestern Pakistan.
The Daesh group had claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160 in the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008.
The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, also claimed a deadly suicide bombing at a Kabul restaurant last month.
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