French President Francois Hollande said Friday that an attack which saw a truck plough into a crowd in Nice, killing 80 people, was clearly a “terrorist” act.
There was a sense of deja vu in France as the visibly moved president took to the airwaves to address a nation once again in mourning.
If confirmed as an act of terror, the incident will be the third major attack on French soil in 18 months — with several smaller-scale jihadist killings also having taken place.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack in the resort city, Hollande vowed to strengthen his country’s role in the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
“Nothing will make us yield in our will to fight terrorism. We will further strengthen our actions in Iraq and in Syria. We will continue striking those who attack us on our own soil,” he said, in reference to the IS group.
Hollande said several children were among the dead after the attack, which he said was of an “undeniable terrorist nature”.
He vowed ever stronger security measures — calling up reservists and extending a state of emergency — as he reached for familiar, and new words to boost the morale of a battered nation.
“France is horrified by what has happened, this monstrosity which is using a truck to deliberately kill dozens of people who simply came to celebrate July 14.
“France was struck on its national day, a symbol of freedom,” said Hollande.
France “will always be stronger, I promise you, than the fanatics that want to strike it.”
The Islamic State group has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target for its military actions against the group in Iraq and Syria, and hundreds of jihadists have left France to go and fight in its ranks.
The country has been under a state of emergency ever since jihadists killed 130 in Paris on November 13, and the government has boosted its security laws.
Just hours before the attack Hollande said the state of emergency would not be renewed beyond July 26 after the adoption of a new law in May bolstering security.
However after the incident he said it would be extended for another three months.
While security forces will remain on high alert, Hollande also called on France’s “operational reservists” to boost the ranks of police and gendarmes.
These include French citizens with or without military experience as well as former soldiers.
How a vehicle became a weapon in Nice attacks
Transforming a vehicle into a simple but deadly weapon of terror — as happened to such bloody effect in Nice on Thursday — is a tactic well known to intelligence agencies.
A truck smashed into revellers celebrating France’s Bastille Day, killing at least 80 and injuring scores as its ploughed two kilometres through the crowd.
Western authorities have had to deal with three similar attacks in recent years: two in Britain and another in Canada.
In May 2013, two Islamists smashed their car into British soldier Lee Rigby before attempting to behead him on a London street in broad daylight. The pair, who were of Nigerian heritage, said they attacked the 25-year-old fusilier to avenge the deaths of Muslims at the hands of British troops.
Just 18 months later, a man claiming to be acting in the name of radical jihad ran over and killed Canadian soldier Patrice Vincent, also injuring a second man. Shortly after, the 25-year-old Muslim convert, Martin Couture-Rouleau, called the police emergency line to dedicate his attack to the cause of jihad.
And in June 2007, two men in a burning jeep smashed into the main terminal building at Scotland’s Glasgow Airport. One of the men was jailed for life, with the judge describing him as a “religious extremist”.
For several years, extremist groups such as Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have exhorted followers via videos or messages to carry out such attacks using whatever comes to hand.
In September 2014, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an IS spokesman who Western intelligence agencies have dubbed the group’s “attacks minister”, issued chilling instructions that some have since apparently followed.
“If you cannot (detonate) a bomb or (fire) a bullet, arrange to meet alone with a French or an American infidel and bash his skull in with a rock, slaughter him with a knife, run him over with your car, throw him off a cliff, strangle him, or inject him with poison,” he said.
Al-Adnani said there was no need to “consult anyone” as all unbelievers are fair game: “It is immaterial if the infidel is a combatant or a civilian… They are both enemies. The blood of both is permitted.”
abcnews/FP
