The French police described the scene as a “vision of horror”.
LONDON/PARIS — At least three people have been killed and several others wounded after a knife attack inside a cathedral in Nice, France. One of the victims, a woman, was beheaded.
The attack took place at 9am on Thursday morning inside the Notre-Dame basilica in the city centre. The French police described the scene as a “vision of horror”.
Christian Estrosi, the Mayor of Nice, said the attacker had repeated “Allahu Akbar” several times while he was being arrested and handcuffed by police.
Estrosi said a woman victim had been decapitated but he had no details of how the two others were killed.
“We have two people killed inside the church … and a third person who was in a bar facing the church where she had taken refuge. Enough is enough … we have to remove this Islamo-fascism from our territory”, the Mayor added.
The incident comes two weeks after the horrific killing of 47-year-old teacher, Samuel Paty, by a refugee Islamist after cartoons of Prophet Muhammed were shown by Paty to his students in a class on freedom of speech.
“Before it was a school professor, this time the Islamo-fascist barbarism chose to attack inside a church. Again, it is very symbolic,” Estrosi added.
This is not the first time Nice has come under attack. In 2016, a Tunisian named Mohammed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a 19 tonne cargo truck into the crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day. Eighty-six people were killed and more than 400 injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. — IANS
