Terror attack in French school ‘linked to Israel-Hamas conflict’

Published

1 year ago

October 14, 2023

admin

A terror attack that left a schoolteacher dead is linked to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, France’s interior minister has said.

Gerald Darmanin said France would also be placed on its highest level of security alert after the suspected Islamist attack.

Police arrested a Russian-born Chechen shortly after a teacher was killed at a secondary school in the northeastern city of Arras, 115 miles (185 km) north of Paris.

Three other people were wounded in the incident.

A day before the attack, the suspect had been held by police for questioning on suspicion of radicalism, Mr Darmanin added.

‘We did our job seriously’

Security services had, he said, been monitoring the man since the summer over suspected Islamic radicalisation, and, after listening to his phone calls for several days, decided to question him.

Insisting the intelligence services “did our job seriously”, Mr Darmanin said investigators found no sign he was preparing an attack.

“There was a race against the clock. But there was no threat, no weapon, no indication,” he said.

The suspect, identified by prosecutors as Mohamed M, was reportedly refusing to speak to investigators.

His younger brother was among “several” others also in custody, national counterterrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said.

Police could not confirm local media reports, which originated from one of the first officers on the scene, that the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” – which means “God is great” in Arabic – before the stabbing.

French President Emmanuel Macron called the attack “barbaric Islamic terrorism”

Follow live: Israel launches first ground missions in Gaza

Teacher ‘saved many lives’

Standing near to where the attack happened, Mr Macron paid his respects to the dead teacher, named by local media as French language teacher, Dominique Bernard.

Mr Macron said: “[He] stepped in and undoubtedly saved a lot of lives himself.

Insisting the school would be open on Saturday, he added: “Our choice is made not to give in to terror, not to let anything divide us.”

The suspect, born in 2003, was a former student of the Lycee Gambetta high school where the attack happened, a police source said.

A teacher, a security guard and a cleaning worker were critically injured and were fighting for their lives in hospital following the knife attack.

Residents have been advised by local authorities to avoid the centre of the city, which is about 30 miles south of Lille.

Students were reportedly locked down in the school during the incident.

None of the children were physically harmed during the attack, according to reports.

Arras is shocked and bewildered and wants answers

In the heart of Arras, not far from a pedestrianised shopping precinct, there are hundreds of armed police officers.

French President Emmanuel Macron has come to town, along with two of his most trusted lieutenants – the interior and education ministers.

But the atmosphere is one of shock and sadness.

As I arrive, guided through a police cordon, I see a man walking away, his arm draped around his subdued teenage daughter.

The Lycee Gambetta stands ahead of us. It is a forgettable building, softened by tall trees. But now, it is surrounded by police vans and incident tape.

What happened at the school was horrendous – a knife attack of particular savagery that has shaken people here.

I spoke to one student outside the school, a thoughtful sixth-former called Remi.

He told me Arras was a quiet, safe town. “I’d say it was chilled,” he said – and that he had been shocked when he heard the news of the attack: “Why would you do something like that? Why would have so little value for a human life?”

The question is why?

Why did this man do something so brutal? Was it an isolated incident, was it inspired by the conflict in the Middle East, or by the ongoing resonance of the murder of Samuel Paty, almost exactly three years ago.

Was he motivated by Islamist fury, or by some other grievance. Arras, like the French nation, wants answers but at the moment, this town reverberates simply to shock, bewilderment and sadness.

‘He told us to get out’

Local media quoted one pupil as saying: “We came out of class to go to the canteen, and we saw the guy with two knives attacking the teacher, who had blood on him.

“He tried to calm him down and protect us. He told us to get out, but we didn’t understand. We ran, and others went back upstairs.”

A security alert was sparked later at another school in Arras.

A third man was reportedly arrested in that incident when he tried to enter the school with a suspicious rucksack.

Education Minister Gabriel Attal has urged schools across France to “immediately take all measures” to increase security.

Naima Moutchou, a vice president of France’s National Assembly, expressed “solidarity and thoughts for the victims, their families and the educational community” on behalf of the assembly’s representatives.

World

Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv – as commander ‘sacked for lying about war progress’

Published

12 hours ago

November 25, 2024

admin

Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv - as commander 'sacked for lying about war progress'

Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.

Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.

Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.

Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.

“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.

“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”

Russia did not comment on the attack.

It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.

While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.

Russian war bloggers have long complained that units there are poorly supported and thrown into deadly battles for little tactical gain.

Russia’s ministry of defence has not commented on the reports.

World

Russian forces capture ‘former British soldier’ fighting for Ukraine – reports

Published

15 hours ago

November 24, 2024

admin

Russian forces capture 'former British soldier' fighting for Ukraine - reports

Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.

In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.

He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.

He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”

He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.

“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.

“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”

In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.

He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”

Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.

The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.

World

Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE – as Israeli PM says he was murdered in ‘antisemitic terror incident’

Published

1 day ago

November 24, 2024

admin

Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE - as Israeli PM says he was murdered in 'antisemitic terror incident'

The body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been found, Israel has said.

Zvi Kogan, the Chabad representative in the UAE, went missing on Thursday.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office on Sunday said the 28-year-old rabbi was murdered, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terror incident”.

“The state of Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death,” it said.

On Saturday, Israeli intelligence agency Mossad said it was investigating the disappearance as suspicions arose that he had been kidnapped.

The Emirati government gave no immediate acknowledgment that Mr Kogan had been found dead. Its interior ministry has described the rabbi as being “missing and out of contact”.

“Specialised authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the interior ministry said.

Mr Kogan lived in the UAE with his wife Rivky, who is a US citizen. He ran a Kosher grocery store in Dubai, which has been the target of online protests by pro-Palestinian supporters.

The Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of Orthodox Judaism, said Mr Kogan was last seen in Dubai.

Israeli authorities reissued their recommendation against all non-essential travel to the UAE and said visitors currently there should minimise movement and remain in secure areas.

The rabbi’s disappearance comes as Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October.

While the Israeli statement on Mr Kogan did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have previously carried out kidnappings in the UAE.

The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020. Since then, synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners have been set up for the burgeoning Jewish community but the unrest in the Middle East has sparked deep anger in the country.