Boris Johnson: UK stands ‘steadfast’ with France after Nice terror attack
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said Britain stands “steadfast” with the people of France, after a terror attack in Nice this morning left at least three dead.
One woman was decapitated and two others were killed in a knife attack in the Notre Dame Basilica in the centre of the French city at around 9am local time.
The attacker was arrested after being shot by police, who arrived ten minutes after local authorities were alerted.
“I am appalled to hear the news from Nice this morning of a barbaric attack at the Notre-Dame Basilica,” Johnson said on Twitter in both English and French.
“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and the UK stands steadfastly with France against terror and intolerance.”
Two further attacks were reported further afield, though it has not yet been confirmed whether they are related to the incident in Nice.
A second attack was reported 125 miles away in Avignon. Reports said a man had been shot dead by police after he shouted “Allahu Akbar” while threatening officers with a knife.
Later another attack was reported 125 miles away in Avignon. Reports said a man had been shot dead by police after he shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he threatened officers with a knife.
A man was also arrested in Saudi Arabia after attacking a guard at the French consulate in Jeddah. In a statement, the French embassy in Riyadh said: “The assailant was apprehended by Saudi security forces immediately after the attack. The guard was taken to hospital and his life is not in danger.”
Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, said the attacker in the city had survived and has been taken to a nearby hospital.
Estrosi said a woman had tried to escape from inside the church and fled into a bar opposite, where she is believed to have been killed. A further victim is believed to be the church warden.
The attacker continued to repeat the phrase “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is greatest,” as he was loaded into the ambulance, the mayor told reporters.
“Nice, like the whole of France, is paying a heavy price for this Islamo-facism,” Estrosi said. “Enough is enough.”
French President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis call in Paris before announcing he would travel to the scene later today.
It comes two weeks after Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was beheaded by an 18-year-old Islamist outside the school he taught at in the outskirts of Paris.
The suspect is believed to have decapitated Paty after the teacher showed students satirical cartoons of the prophet Muhammed in a lesson on free speech.