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Terror attack on church puts France on high alert

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French officials were on high alert Thursday after a knife-wielding assailant shouting “Allahu akbar” killed three churchgoers in the Mediterranean city of Nice, fueling …
French officials were on high alert Thursday after a knife-wielding assailant shouting “Allahu akbar” killed three churchgoers in the Mediterranean city of Nice, fueling an already bitter national debate about free speech, terrorism and the place of Islam in a fiercely secular democracy. The attack, which took place inside Nice’s Notre-Dame Basilica, was the third in two months tied to suspected Islamist terrorists. A provincial high school teacher was beheaded earlier this month after showing his class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. President Emmanuel Macron said Islam must be “reformed” in France. The churchgoers were attacked at a moment of high stress for the nation. France entered its second nationwide lockdown Friday after a record resurgence in COVID-19 cases. Officials in leading Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt quickly condemned the killings in France along with the stabbing of a guard outside the French Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al-Azhar University, considered the voice of Islam in Egypt, called the attacks “unjustifiable” and “inconsistent with the tolerant teachings of Islam and all divine religions.” Authorities late Thursday said the attacker, who was shot and seriously wounded in a struggle at a nearby bar, was a young Tunisian national named Brahim Aioussaoui, who was carrying a copy of the Quran at the time of the assault. Mr. Aioussaoui reportedly arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa on Sept.20 and traveled to Paris three weeks ago. A spokesman for Tunisia’s countermilitancy court told the Reuters news agency in Tunis that police there had not listed Mr. Aouissaoui as a suspected militant. President Trump and Democratic rival Joseph R. Biden condemned the attacks and expressed sympathy. Saying the U.S. stands “with our oldest ally in this fight,” Mr. Trump tweeted, “These radical Islamic terrorist attacks must stop immediately. No country, France or otherwise, can long put up with it!” Mr. Biden said he and wife Jill “are keeping the French people in our prayers following the horrific terror attack in Nice.” He said his administration “will work with our allies and partners to prevent extremist violence in all forms.” A furious debate in France over free speech and religious rights has been mounting since the high school assault earlier this month. Security officials said France would be placed on its highest-level alert.

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