A driver shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") ploughed into pedestrians in eastern France on Sunday, injuring 11 of them, just a day after a man yelling the same words was killed in an attack on police officers.
Two of the people injured in the car attack in the city of Dijon were in a serious condition, a police source said, adding that the driver had been arrested.
"The man, born in 1974, is apparently unbalanced and had been in a psychiatric hospital," a source close to the investigation told AFP, adding that "for now his motives are still unclear".
The man had targeted groups of passersby at five different locations in the city on Sunday evening in a rampage that lasted around half an hour, the police source said.
"Nine people were lightly injured and two others seriously but their lives do not appear to be in danger," the source added.
Witnesses told police that the driver shouted "Allahu Akbar" and "that he was acting for the children of Palestine", a source close to the investigation said.
Police sources said the driver was known to police for petty offences dating back to the 1990s.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls took to Twitter to express "solidarity" with those injured in the attack.
France is still reeling from a suspected radical Islamic attack on Saturday that saw a French convert to Islam shot dead after attacking police officers with a knife while also reportedly crying "Allahu Akbar" in the central town of Joue-les-Tours.
'Lone wolf' fears
The assailant, Burundi-born French national, Bertrand Nzohabonayo seriously injured two officers -- slashing one in the face -- and hurting another.
The 20-year-old attacker also cried "Allahu Akbar" during the assault, said a source close to the case speaking on condition of anonymity.
The assault prompted the government to step up security at police and fire stations nationwide.
Nzohabonayo had previously committed petty offences but was not on a domestic intelligence watch-list although his brother is known for his radical views and once pondered going to Syria, the source said.
The anti-terror branch of the Paris prosecutor's office has opened a probe into that attack, with the line of inquiry focusing on whether it was motivated by radical Islam.
The weekend incidents in France come as governments around the world brace for so-called "lone wolf" attacks by individuals returning from waging jihad abroad, or who are simply following Islamic State group calls for violence in the countries involved in a coalition fighting the militants in Iraq and Syria.
The group has repeatedly singled out France for such attacks, most recently in a video posted on jihadist sites this week.
Last week in Australia, an Iranian-born Islamist with a history of extremism and violence entered a cafe and held people hostage for 16 hours before being killed. Two of the hostages also died.
Last year in France, a recent convert to Islam also stabbed a soldier in the busy Paris commercial complex and transport hub of La Defense.
And the main suspect in the murders of four people at Brussels' Jewish Museum in May, Mehdi Nemmouche, spent more than a year fighting with extremists in Syria.
Authorities in France believe around 1,200 nationals or residents are involved in one way or another in jihadist networks in Iraq and Syria.
AFP
Mon Dec 22 2014
Picture taken on December 21, 2014, shows the police station in Joue-les-Tours, where French police shot dead a man who attacked them with a knife while shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great" in Arabic). -Filepix
AWANI Pagi: Berita tumpuan & menarik di astroawani.com [19 Mei 2024]
Antara fokus AWANI Pagi bersama Nursyazwani Saiful Sham & Azib Zikry
- Serangan Ulu Tiram: Tiada kaitan kumpulan pengganas
- Menjelang HAWANA 2024: Kesihatan mental petugas media
- The Experts: Pelakon hebat, genre berbeza
- Serangan Ulu Tiram: Tiada kaitan kumpulan pengganas
- Menjelang HAWANA 2024: Kesihatan mental petugas media
- The Experts: Pelakon hebat, genre berbeza
Mangsa banjir di Perak menurun pagi ini, 100 mangsa masih di PPS
Lima pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) masih beroperasi di dua daerah terjejas iaitu empat di Taiping dan satu di Kuala Kangsar.
Klopp kini di media sosial
Bekas pengendali Borussia Dortmund berusia 56 tahun itu yang kini mempunyai akaun Instagram telah mengumpul lebih 750,000 pengikut.
Biadab, pijak al-Quran bersumpah tidak curang
Dia bertindak sedemikian hanya kerana mahu membuktikan tidak berselingkuh dengan seorang doktor kecantikan.
Rejim Zionis mara ke Jabalia, antara kem pelarian terbesar
Tentera zionis Israel pada Sabtu dilihat terus mara ke utara Gaza dengan menggunakan kereta kebal dan kenderaan berperisai. Kali ini, lokasi operasi rejim itu tertumpu ke Jabalia, salah satu daripada lapan kem pelarian terbesar di Semenanjung Gaza.
Polis Israel guna meriam air leraikan protes antikerajaan
Polis Israel bertindak melepaskan meriam air bagi meleraikan penunjuk perasaan anti-kerajaan yang menggesa pembebasan tebusan yang ditahan Hamas.
Elak masalah, guna talian kecemasan di gelang haji
Dalam usaha memastikan keselesaan jemaah haji ketika menunaikan ibadah rukun Islam kelima itu, Lembaga Tabung Haji, TH menyediakan khidmat pelanggan yang beroperasi 24 jam tujuh hari seminggu di mekah.
Jemaah haji boleh membuat aduan di kaunter khidmat pelanggan TH yang terletak di ibu pejabat di Abraj Janadriah dan bangunan hotel land premium selain kaunter pusat perkhidmatan di semua sembilan maktab penginapan.
Jemaah haji boleh membuat aduan di kaunter khidmat pelanggan TH yang terletak di ibu pejabat di Abraj Janadriah dan bangunan hotel land premium selain kaunter pusat perkhidmatan di semua sembilan maktab penginapan.
Jangan kaitkan serangan dengan aktiviti ekstremism
Orang awam dinasihat tidak menimbulkan sebarang spekulasi berkaitan tragedi serangan di balai polis di Ulu Tiram, Johor, pada Jumaat.
Jemaah Islamiyah tidak lagi berpegang kepada ideologi lama
Pada masa sama, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Chasseur Group/ Felo Pelawat, International Centre For Counter-Terrorism (ICCT), The Hague, Munira Mustaffa berkata, kumpulan Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) tidak lagi berpegang kepada ideologi kepimpinan terdahulu.
Malah selepas tampuk kepimpinan JI diambil alih oleh para Wijayanto, kumpulan itu juga katanya tidak mempunyai sebarang hubungan dengan kumpulan Al-Qaeda.
Malah selepas tampuk kepimpinan JI diambil alih oleh para Wijayanto, kumpulan itu juga katanya tidak mempunyai sebarang hubungan dengan kumpulan Al-Qaeda.
Singapura tingkatkan langkah keselamatan selepas serangan
Singapura telah meningkatkan langkah-langkah keselamatan, termasuk di pusat pemeriksaan negaranya.
Ia susulan serangan di Balai Polis Ulu Tiram, Johor, pada Jumaat yang mengorbankan dua anggota polis dan mencederakan seorang lagi.
Ia susulan serangan di Balai Polis Ulu Tiram, Johor, pada Jumaat yang mengorbankan dua anggota polis dan mencederakan seorang lagi.