France: Muslim terrorist took selfie with beheaded victim
Top suspect Yassine Salhi, a truck driver with a history of [Muslim terrorism] ties, as well as his sister and wife remained in police custody in the city of Lyon, a day after he crashed a truck into a U.S.-owned chemical warehouse and hung his employer’s severed head on a factory gate, officials said.
One of the officials said the selfie was forwarded via WhatsApp, the globally popular instant messaging system owned by Facebook, to a phone number in Canada. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
Jean-Christophe de Le Rue, a spokesman for Canada’s Public Safety Minister, confirmed that Canadian authorities are involved in the case.
“While I cannot comment on operational matters of national security, we are assisting the French authorities with their investigation,” he said.
He declined to comment further on details of the investigation.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. The severed head appeared to mimic Islamic State’s practice of beheading prisoners and displaying their heads for all to see, and came days after the [Muslim terrorists] urged attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. French authorities say Salhi had links to [Muslim] Salafists in the past.
