Gruesome Muslim beheading: Jihad terror attack at US factory in France
Both the attacker and the victim of a gruesome terrorist attack in France on Friday morning have been identified by authorities.
At least one Islamic terrorist launched a daylight raid on an industrial gas factory in France Friday and pinned a severed head to the gates, in what President Francois Hollande called a “terrorist” attack.
The grisly attack near France’s second city of Lyon came on an especially bloody day worldwide, with at least 27 gunned down at a beach resort in Tunisia and 13 killed in a suicide bombing in Kuwait claimed by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists.
“The intent was without doubt to cause an explosion. It was a terrorist attack,” said Francois Hollande in Brussels, cutting short an EU summit to chair emergency meetings in the French capital.
Hollande said a vehicle driven at high speed by “one person, maybe accompanied by another” smashed into the factory, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Lyon.
“At the time I am speaking, there is one dead and two injured,” said a grim-faced Hollande, calling for “solidarity” for the victim, who was found with Arabic inscriptions on him.
The bloody discovery of the decapitated head is thought to be the first instance in France of a beheading during an attack – which has become a trademark of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
And the gruesome killing came nearly six months after the Islamist attacks in and around Paris that left 17 people dead, starting with a shooting at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and ending with an attach on a kosher supermarket.
The 35-year-old attacker, identified as Yassin Salhi, had been known to security services for a number of years but did not have a criminal record, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
The minister said a local firefighter who rushed to the scene of the attack had overpowered the suspect, praising him for his “courage and … cool head”.
Salhi and his wife have been taken into custody and an anti-terrorist probe has been launched, Cazeneuve said.
At least one other person is also being questioned as part of the investigation but there is no formal link with the attack, said sources close to the probe.
For months, Europe has been on high-alert for so-called “lone wolf” attacks [that what they call it to defend Islam] that are very difficult to prevent after Islamic State fighters urged supporters to carry out assaults wherever they could.
“There was a decapitated body with inscriptions,” said Hollande, although sources close to the enquiry said it was not clear whether the victim was transported to the site or whether the beheading was carried out at the factory.
“A flag with Arabic writing on it was found at the scene,” said Cazeneuve, adding that the text was being translated.
The terrorist entered the factory owned by American group Air Products and set off several small explosive devices, sources close to the investigation said, with at least two people hurt in the assault.
Police said it was unclear whether the attacker was acting alone, or had accomplices.
Security services drew up a file on the suspect in 2006, but he had no criminal record, said Cazeneuve, who went immediately to the scene.
He had a “link” to the Salafist movement, an extreme form of Sunni Islam, Cazeneuve added, stressing that the investigation was in its early stages.
The attack, which occurred around 10:00 am local time (0800 GMT) in the town of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, shocked local residents.
“This is a small town and a large industrial zone. There’s never been any concern in the region. We’re all surprised. We’re really in shock this morning,” an employee at a nearby business told rolling news channel BMFTV.
The victim was later identified as a businessman from the suburbs of Lyon.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who is on an official trip in South America, ordered security measures stepped up at all sensitive sites in the area.
“Islamist terrorism has hit France again,” Valls told reporters in Bogota.
France has been on high alert since January 7 when two Islamist brothers attacked Charlie Hebdo, killing 12. A policewoman and four hostages in a Jewish supermarket were also killed during the three-day attacks.
