Nice police on guard for more attacks following church killings

The police chief of Nice said on Friday that Christian and French state sites were at risk of militant attacks following the killing of three people in a church in the city by a knife-wielding assailant. 20 at Lampedusa, an Italian island off Tunisia. Gianotti said police video recordings would be key for investigators as the city has 3,300 security cameras in the streets.


Reuters | Nice | Updated: 30-10-2020 19:07 IST | Created: 30-10-2020 19:07 IST
Nice police on guard for more attacks following church killings
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The police chief of Nice said on Friday that Christian and French state sites were at risk of militant attacks following the killing of three people in a church in the city by a knife-wielding assailant. Thursday's violence prompted the government to raise the security alert for all French territory to its highest level and President Emmanuel Macron said more soldiers would be deployed to protect key sites such as places of worship and schools.

Local police are also on high alert. "We are in a situation where the terrorist risk is more and more prevalent. Any symbol of the republic or Christianity is a potential target," Gianotti told Reuters. "We have to be vigilant, we have to be attentive."

A man shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) on Thursday decapitated a woman and killed two other people before being shot and taken away by police. The suspect is a 21-year-old Tunisian migrant who arrived in Europe on Sept. 20 at Lampedusa, an Italian island off Tunisia.

Gianotti said police video recordings would be key for investigators as the city has 3,300 security cameras in the streets. "Investigators will use all our video recordings and this will be decisive for helping the investigation," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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