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Police officers secure the area after a reported knife attack at Notre Dame church in Nice, France, October 29, 2020 - Sputnik International

Live Updates: Two Separate Attacks With Perpetrators Shouting 'Allahu Akbar' Shake France

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Earlier in the day, media reported that shots were heard in the Notre-Dame district of central Nice at around 9 am.

Police have confirmed that three people were killed and several others were injured in a knife attack in Nice. According to unconfirmed reports, a woman was beheaded, while a man was struck several times in the throat.

"There was a knife attack, two people were killed. The suspected attacker was detained," the police wrote on Twitter.

According to local media reports, the perpetrator was shot during the arrest and sent to a hospital.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said a police operation was underway, while Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said that everything indicates that the knife attack was an act of terrorism.

The incident comes just two weeks after a French teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded on the outskirts of Paris by a radicalised 18-year-old of Chechen descent after Paty showed a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad to his pupils during a history lesson - something which is viewed as blasphemous in Islam.

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03:13 GMT 30.10.2020

A Brazilian citizen was killed during the Thursday stabbing attack in the southern French city of Nice, Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of a 44-year-old Brazilian citizen, a mother of three children, who is one of the victims of the brutal attack committed by a terrorist at the Notre-Dame church in Nice,” Araujo wrote on his Twitter page on late Thursday.

20:25 GMT 29.10.2020

French anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard confirmed on Thursday that the attacker in Nice was from Tunisia and had arrived in France on October 9.

Earlier, this was reported by a number of French media. Ricard noted that the attacker had documents of the Italian Red Cross in the name of a native of Tunisia born in 1999.

"According to the information we have, he entered Italy through the island of Lampedusa on September 20. He then arrived in Paris on October 9, 2020," Ricard said at a press conference on Thursday.

He said that at the moment, investigation was ongoing in order to establish the path that the attacker took, and also to find out whether he had accomplices.

The prosecutor also added that the perpetrator of the attack was not known to intelligence agencies.

20:17 GMT 29.10.2020
20:15 GMT 29.10.2020

Committing crimes in the name of Islam can not be justified, Abdallah Zekri, the director-general of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), told Sputnik.

"It is unacceptable to approve of such actions. Even the prophet, if he was alive, I do not think that he would have approved that someone was killed for his sake … Unfortunately, they kill in the name of our religion, and we become victims and hostages of these terrorists. And this is unacceptable," Zekri, who also heads the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) non-profit organization, said.

19:03 GMT 29.10.2020
18:56 GMT 29.10.2020

The unknown assailant who killed three people at a church in the French city of Nice earlier on Thursday was attempting to sour relations between the country's faith-based community groups, the imam of Nice, Abdelkader Sadouni, told Sputnik in an interview, adding that Christians, Muslims, and Jews in France should maintain their strong relations.

"I hope there will be no tensions. We must tell ourselves that French society is cosmopolitan, comprised of different religions - Jews, Muslims, Christians - that get along with each other very well. We cannot let this barbarian, who just tried to break these relations between the religions, [to do so]," Sadouni stated.

The imam said that the Christian community can expect to receive the support of their Muslim counterparts over the coming days following the brutal attack in the southern French city.

"It's an act of absolute horror, we are all mortified by what has happened. And we are now in a stage of recollection facing this unspeakably barbaric act which happened in our city today - just some meters away from our prayer room. And with all our hearts we are together with our Catholic friends and brothers, we are by their side, we share their pain and they can count on us," Sadouni stated.

Sources in the French law enforcement agencies believe the attacker to be a 21-year-old male of Tunisian origin. The assailant is said to have "almost beheaded" two of the victims during the attack at the Notre-Dame basilica, which has been described by French President Emmanuel Macron as an act of Islamist terrorism.

18:34 GMT 29.10.2020

The leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim community Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said on Thursday that he denounces the deadly attacks in Nice and elsewhere in France and calls on the world to unite against extremism.

"The murder and beheading of Samuel Paty and the attack in Nice earlier today must be condemned in the strongest possible terms," Marsoor Ahmad said. "Such grievous attacks are completely against the teachings of Islam. Our religion does not permit terrorism or extremism under any circumstances and anyone who claims otherwise acts against the teachings of the Holy Quran and contrary to the noble character of the Holy Prophet of Islam."

Earlier on Thursday, an armed man killed three people and injured several others in a Christian cathedral in Nice. The attacker shouted "God is great" in Arabic during the attack and beheaded two of the victims, according to media reports. The attack in Nice was followed by a knife-stabbing attempt in France's southeastern city of Avignon and another at the French Consulate in Saudi Arabia.

Marsoor Ahmad said he extends the Ahmadiyya Muslim community’s deepest sympathies to the loved ones of the victims and to the French nation.

"Let it be clear that our condemnation and hatred of such attacks is not something new but has always been our position and stance," he said.

Marsoor Ahmad noted that the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community and his successors have always rejected all forms of violence and bloodshed in the name of religion.

"The fallout from this heinous act has further exacerbated the tensions between the Islamic world and the West and between Muslims living in France and the rest of society," he said. "We consider this to be a source of deep regret and a means of further undermining the peace and stability of the world. We must all join together to root out all forms of extremism and to encourage mutual understanding and tolerance."

In addition, Marsoor Ahmad said the Ahmadiyya Muslim community members will spare no effort in their mission to foster a better understanding of the true and peaceful teachings of Islam in the world.

18:29 GMT 29.10.2020

Muslims in Russia have condemned Thursday's terrorist attack in the French city of Nice that left three people dead, Mufti Albir Krganov, the head of the Spiritual Assembly of Muslims of the Russian Federation, told Sputnik on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, an unknown assailant launched a terrorist attack at a church in Nice. Three people were stabbed to death in what French President Emmanuel Macron called an "Islamist terrorist attack." The suspect has been taken into custody.

"It is a tragedy when a murder occurs in a house of God, regardless of [religious] denomination. No one is allowed to do this, the Almighty forbids it. No one has the right to kill … We condemn this," Krganov remarked.

Thursday's attack took place following Macron's pledge to target radical Islam in the wake of the October 16 beheading of Samuel Paty, a history teacher based near Paris. Paty was killed after reportedly showing caricatures depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammad in class.

17:02 GMT 29.10.2020
15:56 GMT 29.10.2020

UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Miguel Moratinos strongly condemned the knife attack in Nice, France, which left at least three people dead, his spokesperson Nihal Saad said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, an armed man killed three people and injured several others in a Christina cathedral in Nice. The attacker shouted "God is great" in Arabic during the attack and beheaded two of the victims, according to media reports.

"The High Representative for the UNAOC, Mr. Miguel Angel Moratinos, strongly condemns the barbaric attack that killed three people - two women and a man - at the Notre-Dame Basilica in the city of Nice on the southeast coast of France," Saad said.

Moratinos urged the international community to reject those who maliciously invoke religion to instigate division and hatred and called for mutual respect of all religions and faiths, the spokesperson said.

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said the police arrested the attacker who continued to shout even when he was seized and given medication.

Nice's attack was followed by a knife-stabbing attempt in France's southeastern city of Avignon and another at the French Consulate in Saudi Arabia.

15:51 GMT 29.10.2020
15:46 GMT 29.10.2020

Thursday's attack in a church in the French city of Nice may aggravate religious tensions in France, but not Nice itself, where religious communities know one another well, Gil Florini, the senior priest at Nice Centre, said.

Three people were killed in a knife attack in the church of Notre-Dame de Nice.  According to media reports, two of the victims died from beheading. The perpetrator was detained by the police. The anti-terrorism department of prosecutors has joined the investigation.

"In Nice, the community knows one another. I am speaking of an actual community, people who practice their religion, whether Jews, Muslims, Catholics, or Protestants, we often meet, so we know one another. So I don’t think the tensions will go out of control, because of this knowing [one another], this real relationship we have," Florini said, when asked if the latest attack could worsen religious tensions in France.

The religious communities in Nice are "pacified," but in the rest of the country, there are people who do not know one another that well, Florini said

"In Nice, a lot of effort has been made since a long time ago, for 20-30 years … to meet, to do things together ... There are always small tensions, but I don’t think there will be big ones," the priest said.

At the same time, there are people who remain outside of the community, Florini said.

“[The attacker] is definitely on his own. You know, the people who believe that God is speaking to them, who exercise the will of God, who are fanatics” the priest said.

Florini said he knew one of the victims personally.

“I knew Vincent, the two others, the women, no. They were two parishioners who came to pray. But I knew Vincent, the sacristan, who was a dad, had two daughters,” he said.

Nice's attack was followed by a knife-stabbing attempt in France's southeastern city of Avignon and another knife assault at the French Consulate in Saudi Arabia. Earlier in October, a school teacher was beheaded in a Parisian suburb after showing Muhammad cartoons at a lesson.

15:30 GMT 29.10.2020

Canada stands with the French people following terrorist attacks in Nice and Avignon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement on Thursday.

On Thursday morning, a knifeman killed three people in the Notre-Dame cathedral in Nice. At least two of the victims - an elderly woman and a male church warden - were beheaded, according to media reports.

The Nice attack was followed by a knife attack in France's southeastern city of Avignon and another knife assault at the French Consulate in Saudi Arabia.

15:29 GMT 29.10.2020

The French police have detained a man armed with a knife who was planning an attack outside a church near Paris, similar to the one that happened earlier in the day in Nice, Le Parisien newspaper reported on Thursday.

According to the newspaper, the man was detained near the Saint-Martin church in the north-central commune of Sartrouville in the Ile-de-France region.

Earlier in the day, three people were killed in a knife attack at the Notre-Dame church in Nice. Two of those killed reportedly had their throats cut. The attacker was arrested.

15:07 GMT 29.10.2020
14:40 GMT 29.10.2020
14:37 GMT 29.10.2020

"The French embassy in Spain has reinforced measures to ensure the security of its subjects", the embassy said in a statement.

14:12 GMT 29.10.2020

A man has been detained next to Saint-Martin's Church in Yvelines, France, after his father called the police, Le Parisien reported.

According to the report, the suspect told his father he wants "to do as it was done in Nice", before leaving home.

14:08 GMT 29.10.2020
14:03 GMT 29.10.2020
13:36 GMT 29.10.2020

"The kingdom categorically rejects such extremist acts, which contravene all religions ..., while stressing the importance of avoiding all practices which generate hatred, violence and extremism", the foreign ministry said in a statement published by the state news agency SPA.

13:22 GMT 29.10.2020

The knife attacker from Nice has been questioned by French investigators, RTBF reported.
He told police that his name is "Brahim" and he is 25 years old, according to a source close to the investigation. However, his identity has not yet been formally established.

The man who attacked people inside the Notre-Dame basilica in the French city of Nice earlier on Thursday has Tunisian citizenship, the Nice-Matin newspaper reported, citing sources.

13:09 GMT 29.10.2020
13:08 GMT 29.10.2020
12:55 GMT 29.10.2020
12:38 GMT 29.10.2020
12:10 GMT 29.10.2020

Police intervention at Paris' Porte de La Chapelle has been cancelled after reports about a knife attack turned out to be false.

Earlier today, Sputnik's sources in the police said the emergency services had been dispatched to northern Paris after a knife attack.

12:00 GMT 29.10.2020
11:53 GMT 29.10.2020

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called it an "odious and brutal attack" and said the whole of Europe stood in solidarity with France and remained united and determined "in the face of barbarism and fanaticism". 

11:50 GMT 29.10.2020
11:48 GMT 29.10.2020

"The government has just brought the Vigipirate plan to the level of an urgent emergency throughout the country. The President of the Republic [Emmanuel Macron] will convene tomorrow morning a national defence and security council", Prime Minister Jean Castex wrote on Twitter.

The French government's response to the attack will be quick and resolute, the official pledged.

11:44 GMT 29.10.2020
11:38 GMT 29.10.2020
11:37 GMT 29.10.2020
11:11 GMT 29.10.2020
11:07 GMT 29.10.2020

French President Emmanuel Macron is heading to the Interior Ministry's crisis centre following the deadly knife attack in Nice, BFMTV broadcaster reported on Thursday.

According to BFMTV, Macron will arrive in the crisis centre at 10:30 local time (09:30 GMT).

10:48 GMT 29.10.2020
10:45 GMT 29.10.2020

French police have shot dead a person in Avignon after he threatened people with a knife, shouting 'Allahu Akbar.'

10:36 GMT 29.10.2020
10:19 GMT 29.10.2020
10:18 GMT 29.10.2020

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric on Thursday offered her condolences to the loved ones of the victims of a knife attack in the French city of Nice.

The mayor of the city confirmed that three people were dead in the attack on a church.

"The Secretary General of the Council of Europe in #Strasbourg expresses her compassion and solidarity with those close to the victims of today’s deadly attack in #Nice and with the French authorities and government," the Council of Europe said on Twitter.

President of European Parliament David Sassoli said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the news of the attack.

"We have a duty to stand together against violence and those that seek to incite and spread hatred," Sassoli said on Twitter.

09:39 GMT 29.10.2020
09:33 GMT 29.10.2020
09:29 GMT 29.10.2020
09:25 GMT 29.10.2020

French anti-terrorist prosecutors joined the investigation into Thursday's knife attack in the southern city of Nice, franceinfo broadcaster reported.

The probe will be led by the central department of the judiciary police and the General Directorate for Internal Security.

09:18 GMT 29.10.2020
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