2020 Nice stabbing

Police forces close the road leading up to the Church

On 29 October 2020, three people were Stabbed and killed in an attack in a Roman Catholic church in Nice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.[1] The attack happened between 8:50 and 9:00 AM local time.[2] The mayor of Nice said that this was a terrorist attack. He called it "islamist terrorism". The attacker was an 21 year old Tunisian.[3] The three people killed were a seventy-year-old woman, a woman in her thirties and a member of the clergy.[1][4] The woman in her thirties was able to leave the church but she died soon after the attack in a nearby restaurant. Local police entered the church and fought with the attacker. The policemen used tasers before they shot him.[5] The attacker was taken to a nearby hospital.[5]

The attacker was a 21 year old man from Tunisia. He had entered Italy from Lampedusa in late September 2020. The man had travelled to Bari, Apulia on 9 October. He got to France in mid October 2020.[5][6] He has not asked for asylum in France.[7] This attack happened about a week after another attack. In the earlier attack, a teacher was stabbed after showing cartoons of Muhammad.

Reactions

Turkey wished condolences to the families of the people who were killed.

We strongly condemn the attack perpetrated today inside the Notre-Dame de Nice Church in Nice, France. We convey our condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives in the attack and wish speedy recovery to the wounded.

— Turkey, Department of Foreign Affairs[8]

Other attacks

On the same day, there were two other incidents involving France . In the first incident, an attacker threatened to shoot people near Avignon. There was also an attack on the French consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After these attacks, the French state raised its security alert to the maximum level.[9]

Analysis

Marc Hecker, an expert on terrorism, has analyzed this stabbing, a stabbing that happened in September in Paris and the stabbing where a teacher was targeted. He said that that the attacks are probably related to the republication of Muhammad cartoons by Chartlie Hebdo. These cartoons have caused resentment in many Islamic countries.[10] Wassim Nasr, a journalist who deals with Islamic jihadism, said that it is not political jihad which motivates these attacks: "These people feel attacked in their faith, but do not have a political project as such, such as dividing French society or the departure of the French armies from the Sahel. On the other hand, the fact that they act alone and without ties to the jihadist sphere makes their surveillance almost impossible."[11]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Ce que l'on sait de l'attentat de Nice qui a coûté la vie à trois personnes". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  2. "- Attentat à la basilique de Nice: «Courez, courez… il va y avoir des morts», un serveur témoigne". La Voix du Nord (in French). 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  3. Tenré, Steve (2020-10-29). "EN DIRECT - Attentat islamiste à Nice : «C'est la France qui est attaquée», dénonce Emmanuel Macron". Le Figaro.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  4. à 11h28, Par J. P. Le 29 octobre 2020; À 20h01, Modifié Le 29 Octobre 2020 (2020-10-29). "DIRECT. Attaque à Nice : «Notre réponse sera ferme, implacable et immédiate», déclare Jean Castex". leparisien.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-10-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "REPLAY - Attaque au couteau à Nice : le procureur antiterroriste fait le point sur l'enquête". France 24 (in French). 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  6. AFP, Le Figaro avec (2020-10-29). "Attaque à Nice : l'assaillant est un Tunisien de 21 ans arrivé par Lampedusa". Le Figaro.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  7. "L'assaillant de Nice est un Tunisien de 21 ans arrivé clandestinement en France". L'Obs (in French). 29 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  8. "From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  9. "France: tentative d'attaque au couteau à Avignon, l'assaillant abattu". Le Soir (in French). 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  10. JDD, Le. "Attentat de Nice : pourquoi une telle succession d'attaques depuis un mois?". lejdd.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  11. "Terrorisme : la France en proie à une "fureur grandissante" sur son territoire". France 24 (in French). 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2020-10-31.