Amid the growing sense of “Islamophobia” in the world, a French church was attacked by a man allegedly shouting “Allahu Akbar”, The attack left 3 dead and several hurt.
The incident took place on Thursday in a French church in France’s city of Nice, according to the officials of the region.
The victims included two men and a woman, with the latter succumbing to her injuries following an escape into a bar on the opposite building, and one of the former is assumed to be a churchwarden.
The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, termed the incident as an act of “terrorism” and deeply condemned it. He alleged that the criminal was constantly screaming “Allahu Akbar” despite being detained by the French Police. However, this hasn’t been verified yet.
“The suspected knife attacker was shot by police while being detained, he is on his way to hospital, he is alive,” Estrosi told the media.
Although the motive of the man hasn’t been validated till now, Estrosi called for a “wipe of Islamo-fascism” from France. “Enough is enough,” he said. “It’s time now for France to exonerate itself from the laws of peace in order to definitively wipe out Islamo-fascism from our territory.”
Al Jazeera reported that French President Emmanuel Macron, the man in the news for many days over his anti-Muslim speeches, was on his way to Nice. Interior french Minister Gerald Darmanin organized an emergency meeting and warned everyone to avoid taking the route of the attack.
The responsibility to probe the matter has been handed over to France’s anti-terrorist prosecution department.
A source from the police and politician Marine Le Pen said that there who a killing by decapitation as well.
Estrosi described the killing as “horrible”, while comparing one of them to the killing of Samuel Paty, the professor who was beheaded in broad daylight near Paris. The attacker said that he executed the crime to punish Samuel for showing his students, during his classes, the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.
While Macron has gone on record and vowed that he “won’t give up” cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed, a storm has stirred up in the Muslim world with many boycotting French products.
With Sephora also being a France-based brand, people around the world have also called for boycotting the infamous cosmetic company.
Many French-led marches have openly charged displaying caricatures of Prophet Mohammed for marking a walk of solidarity for Samuel and to portraying the right to expression.
In a second development, a guard in Jeddah’s French embassy has been attack again with a knife by a Saudi citizen. The nationality of the guard hasn’t been disclosed by the Saudi government and the French embassy.
“The assailant was apprehended by Saudi security forces immediately after the attack. The guard was taken to hospital and his life is not in danger,” the embassy said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the French Council for the Muslim Faith condemned the crime and said, “As a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims and their loved ones, I call on all Muslims in France to cancel all the celebrations of the holiday of Mawlid.”
Muslims over the world are celebrating the birthday of Prophet Mohammed on Thursday/Friday.
While many shared their condolences over the deaths, Marine Le Pen, a leading far-right person, chose the offensive route and demanded the “eradication of Islamism from our soil”.
