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'We are in a war': French minister says country must brace itself for attacks fueled by 'Islamist ideology'

WION Web Team
Nice, FranceUpdated: Oct 30, 2020, 04:23 PM IST
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Photograph:(Reuters)

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Darmanin said France needs to reel in 'rampant Islamism which is arming people ideologically'

More attacks on French soil are likely as France is engaged in a "war against Islamist ideology", its interior minister said on Friday.

Earlier, a knife-wielding Tunisian man shouting "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in the French city of nice on Thursday before being shot and taken away by police.

"We are in a war against an enemy that is both inside and outside," Gerald Darmanin told RTL radio.

Darmanin said France needs to reel in ''rampant Islamism which is arming people ideologically.''

"We need to understand that there have been and there will be other events such as these terrible attacks," he added.

The Tunisian man who killed three people in a french church only recently arrived in Europe, officials say.

The suspect, 21, had an Italian red cross-document, issued after he arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa by migrant boat last month.

He was shot by police and is in critical condition. One of the victims was "virtually beheaded", said the french chief anti-terrorism prosecutor.

President Emmanuel Macron said it was an "Islamist terrorist attack". France has raised its terror alert system to the maximum level following the incident in Nice, which left three people dead.