Knife attack in French city of Nice

French anti-terrorism state prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard delivers a press conference on October 29 in Nice, France.

The Nice attack suspect was carrying an Italian Red Cross document when he was taken down by police, French National Anti-terror Prosecutor, Jean-François Ricard, said Thursday.

Brahim Aouissaoui, who French authorities say entered the southern Italian city of Bari on Oct. 9, was unknown to French intelligence services and not in the national fingerprint file, according to Ricard.

How the attack unfolded: Aouissaoui’s movements on the day of the attack, captured by video surveillance, show him arriving at the Nice train station and changing his clothes shortly after 8 a.m. local. He then walked 400 metres (1,312 feet) to the Basilica of Notre-Dame where he carried out the attack over the span of 28 minutes, killing three people. 

The bodies of two people were found inside the basilica:

The third victim — a 44-year-old woman who died in a restaurant nearby of several stab wounds — had fled the church and died a few minutes later.

Just under 30 minutes later, a team of four police officers arrived and shot Aouissaoui. The attacker, identified by Italian officials as Tunisian, had advanced towards them in a “threatening manner, shouting Allah Akbar, forcing them first to use an electric pulse pistol and then firing their service weapon several times,” the prosecutor said.

He added that 14 bullet cases were found on the ground.

An investigation has been opened in Tunisia following Nice attack, Tunisia’s Public Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday according to state-run TAP news.

“According to the initial elements of the investigation, the assailant [is] a Tunisian national,” Mohsen Dali, deputy public prosecutor, said.

Dali added that the prosecutor’s office at the judicial counter-terrorism division has assigned the case to a specialized security unit for further research and investigation.

Earlier today, French authorities named Brahim Aouissaoui as the suspected attacker. He first arrived in Europe in September, a source briefed on the investigation told CNN.

Meanwhile, Tunisia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack in a statement. It expressed solidarity with the French government, its nationals, and offered condolences to the victims’ families.

A source briefed on the investigation told CNN the suspected attacker appears to have arrived in Europe on the Italian island of Lampedusa this September.  

Separately, the source said that chatter in the last couple of weeks had raised concern within French security services that churches in France could be attacked.

The Italian interior ministry said Brahim Aouissaoui is Tunisian and was identified by Italian police in the southern city of Bari on Oct. 9.

Authorities gave him seven days’ notice to leave the country. He was not directly accompanied to the border as he didn’t have any previous criminal records, and was not reported by Tunisian authorities as a potential terrorist.  

European Council leaders condemned the brutal attack in France and urged leaders around the world to work toward understanding and dialogue among communities and religions, rather than division.

In a joint statement issued by EU Council Chief Charles Michel, the 27 leaders said they were “shocked and saddened” by the attacks in France, adding they condemn the attacks in the “strongest possible terms,” which represent “attacks on our shared values.”

A Police vehicle is parked by the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption Basilica in Nice on Thursday, October 29.

More details are emerging about the Nice attack. Here’s what we know right now:

The incident

At least three people were killed in Nice, southern France, during a knife attack at the Notre Dame Basilica, the city’s main church.

Videos posted on social media showed police and military officers responding to the incident, setting up a cordon in the city center.

The victims

One of the victims had her throat slit, a police source told CNN. The mayor of Nice had earlier described it as a decapitation. Another victim – a man – died following multiple stabbings, according to the police source. The third victim, a woman, was wounded inside the church, but managed to leave. However, she died in a nearby café, the police source said.

The suspect

French national police named the attack’s suspect as Brahim Aouissaoui, born in 1999. A source in the Italian interior ministry told CNN that Aouissaoui first arrived in Europe on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

Nice’s mayor Christian Estrosi said the attacker was shot by police, but is still alive and has been taken into custody.

Estrosi said “everything points” to the incident being a terrorist attack, and France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor has taken over the investigation.

The reaction

French President Emmanuel Macron said the country will not give in to terrorism after once again coming under attack from what he called “Islamist and terrorist madness,” he said after visiting the scene of a deadly attack. The country’s terror alert level was raised to “emergency” following the incident.

International leaders have pledged solidarity with France, with the heads of Spain, Italy, Turkey, the UK and the European Parliament among those condemning the violence. The Vatican said Pope Francis is praying for victims. “Terrorism and violence can never be accepted,” it said in a statement.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith has also condemned the incident; as did the French Bishop’s Council, which said Catholics across France “refuse to give into fear” following the attack.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt’s highest religious authority Al-Azhar have condemned the deadly knife attack in France on Thursday. 

The Turkish government’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, also condemned the attack but criticized the French leadership saying they should avoid inflammatory rhetoric against Muslims. Tensions have been tense between the two countries, with Turkey particularly critical of treatment of Muslims in France.

The background

The incident is the latest in a number of attacks to hit France in recent years, and comes less than two weeks after the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in Paris. Paty was targeted after he used caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad during a lesson.

Nice has been the target of terror in the past. In 2016 dozens died after an ISIS-inspired attacker plowed a 20-ton truck into Bastille Day crowds.

French national police have identified the suspect in Nice attack as Brahim Aouissaoui, who was born in 1999.

A source in the Italian interior ministry told CNN that Aouissaoui first arrived in Europe on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

Turkey's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun is pictured during a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on September 7.

The Turkish government’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, said that Turkey will continue to confront politicians who insult Islam, saying that the country “does not owe an apology to anyone for expressing strong opposition to racism and xenophobia.”

Altun “unconditionally” condemned the most recent terror attack in Nice, France and said that “such senseless violence has nothing to do with Islam or Muslims.”

However, Altun criticized the French leadership saying they should avoid inflammatory rhetoric against Muslims.

“We categorically deny any effort to associate us with any kind of violence.”

Some background: Tensions have been tense between the two countries, with Turkey particularly critical of treatment of Muslims in France. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that “we are going through a time in which anti-Islam and Muslim hatred is spreading like cancer among leaders in Europe.”

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the press outside the the Notre-Dame Basilica in Nice on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the country will not give in to terrorism after once again coming under attack from what he called “Islamist and terrorist madness.”

“Once again this morning, it was three of our compatriots that fell in Nice, and very clearly France is under attack,” he added.

Macron said the country must use such incidents to unite, and not give into the “spirit of division.”

French policemen stand guard at the site of a knife attack at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice on Thursday.

Catholics across France “refuse to give into fear” following the knife attack at a church in Nice, the French Bishop’s Council has said.

“This terrorism aims to set anxiety within our society. There is an urgent need to stop this gangrene and to regain the essential fraternity that will make us stand in front of these threats.”

The council said church bells rang out across the country at 3 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) in tribute to the victims.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have condemned the deadly knife attack in France on Thursday. 

Egypt’s highest religious authority Al-Azhar condemned “the hateful terrorist attack that took place” in France on Thursday and warned of an “escalating rhetoric of violence and hatred.”

“Under no circumstances are these attacks justifiable,” Al-Azhar said in a series of tweets.

Saudi Arabia “categorically rejected extremist acts” while “stressing the importance of avoiding all practices which generate hatred, violence and extremism,” state news agency SPA said. 

The Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash commemorated Islam’s Prophet’s birthday, marked on Thursday, saying: “On this cherished memory, we affirm that the discourse of violence and extremism does not represent us.”

Thursday’s knife attack in Nice has been described as a “terrorist” incident by the city’s mayor, and France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor has taken on the investigation.

The incident marks mark the latest in France’s dark recent history of attacks.

In January 2015, a total of 17 people were killed in attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and ensuing shootouts at a kosher grocery story and the Paris suburb of Montrouge.

Armed gunmen face police officers near the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo during the attack in Paris, on January 7, 2015.

Twelve of those who died were shot when brothers Said and Chérif Kouachi forced their way into the Charlie Hebdo building and opened fire during its editorial meeting. The victims included the magazine’s editor, Stephane “Charb” Charbonnier, several cartoonists and columnists, and a protection officer assigned to protect Charb, who had been the target of threats over the magazine’s publication, in 2006, of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Depictions of Islam’s prophet are considered blasphemous by many Muslims. The illustrations – originally published by a Danish newspaper in 2005 – prompted the brothers to attack the Charlie Hebdo offices.

Paris saw more shocking violence in November 2015, when attackers armed with assault rifles and explosives targeted six locations across the city in the deadliest attack in France since World War II.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the violence, which killed a total of 130 people and wounded a further 494. Seven locations were targeted, including the Bataclan theater and the Stade de France football stadium.

In subsequent years, a number of attacks using vehicles have taken place across the country. A July 2016 truck ramming attack in Nice, the same city struck by violence on Thursday, killed 86 people as they celebrated Bastille Day.

In December 2018, five people were killed in a shooting at a Christmas market in Strasbourg. The shooter, Cherif Chekatt, was known to prison officials for being radicalized and for his proselytizing behavior in detention in 2015. A further four people were stabbed in October 2019 at a police headquarters in Paris.

And earlier this month, a teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded in Paris. The country is still mourning the slaying of Paty, who was targeted after he used caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad during a lesson.

French President Emmanuel Macron visits the scene of the knife attack in Nice.

French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived at Notre Dame de Nice, the church where three people were killed in a knife attack Thursday morning.

Macron has been accompanied by the Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, anti-terror prosecutor Jean-François Ricard and Mgr Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, President of the French Bishops’ Council (CEF), the president’s office said.

Macron’s office also said he would meet security personnel and rescue teams at the scene, as well as Nice mayor Christian Estrosi and parliament representatives Cédric Roussel and Eric Ciotti.

Pope Francis is pictured during the general audience at Vatican City, on October 28.

Pope Francis is praying for victims of the deadly knife attack in Nice, the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday.

“Terrorism and violence can never be accepted,” the statement read. “Today’s attack has sown death in a place of love and consolation.”

The Vatican said the Pope has been informed of the situation and “is close to the grieving Catholic community.”

The Pope prays “that the beloved French people can react to evil with good,” the statement said.

A police officer stands in front of a portrait of Samuel Paty, in Montpellier, France, on October 21. Paty was killed earlier this month.

The knife attack in Nice is the second major incident in France in just 13 days, coming with the country still reeling from the slaying of a teacher, Samuel Paty, who was beheaded after using caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad during a lesson.

Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, took credit for the beheading of Paty, 47, who taught history and geography at a school in Paris. Police killed the teen in Éragny, the same Paris suburb where Paty’s body was found.

Paty had taught a class on freedom of expression, during which he used caricatures of the prophet taken from Charlie Hebdo, sparking controversy in the weeks preceding his death, authorities said.

His murder caused France’s long-simmering tensions over secularism, Islamism and religious equality to again erupt into public view – five years after a massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had previously published controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

President Macron paid tribute to the teacher, whom he said was “killed because he was teaching students freedom of speech, the freedom to believe and not believe.” Thousands gathered to celebrate free speech and decry violence in a number of demonstrations across the country.

But an international flare-up over the treatment of Muslims in France broke out after the attack.

Turkey has been particularly critical of Macron’s handling of tensions in the country, saying on Wednesday that “we are going through a time in which anti-Islam and Muslim hatred is spreading like cancer among leaders in Europe.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said in the past week that Macron needs “mental treatment” over his attitude towards Muslims in France, prompting the French government to withdraw its ambassador from Ankara.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Thursday’s attack in Nice, saying: “There is no reason that can justify killing a person or justify violence. It is clear that those who organized such a brutal attack in a holy place of worship do not have any religious, humanitarian and moral values.”

Further details are emerging about the knife attack in Nice. Here’s a summary of what we know right now.

The incident

At least three people were killed in Nice, southern France, during a knife attack at the Notre Dame Basilica, the city’s main church.

Videos posted on social media showed police and military officers responding to the incident, setting up a cordon in the city center.

The victims

One of the victims had her throat slit, a police source told CNN. The mayor of Nice had earlier described it as a decapitation.

Another victim – a man – died following multiple stabbings, according to the police source.

The third victim, a woman, was wounded inside the church, but managed to leave. However, she died in a nearby café, the police source said.

The suspect

Nice’s mayor Christian Estrosi said the attacker was shot by police, but is still alive and has been taken into custody.

Estrosi said “everything points” to the incident being a terrorist attack, and France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor has taken over the investigation.

He added that the suspect kept repeating the words “‘Allahu Akbar in front of us” while being treated by medics. “There is no doubt that the perpetrator of the attack … what his intentions were,” the mayor said.

The reaction

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Nice later on Thursday, and Prime Minister Jean Castex has promised a “firm” response. The country’s terror alert level was raised to “emergency” following the incident.

The “emergency” level means the “maximum level of vigilance” is necessary in case of an imminent threat or immediately after an attack, according to a French government website.

International leaders haved pledged solidarity with France, with the heads of Spain, Italy, Turkey, the UK and the European Parliament among those condemning the violence. The French Council of the Muslim Faith has also condemned the incident.

The background

The incident is the latest in a number of attacks to hit France in recent years, and comes less than two weeks after the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in Paris. Paty was targeted after he used caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad during a lesson.

Nice has been the target of terror in the past. In 2016 dozens died after an ISIS-inspired attacker plowed a 20-ton truck into Bastille Day crowds.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex speaks at the National Assembly in Paris on October 29.

The Prime Minister of France, Jean Castex, has said the government’s response to the Nice attack will be “firm, implacable, and immediate,” adding that the country’s security alert level is being raised to “emergency.”

The “emergency” level means the “maximum level of vigilance” is necessary in case of an imminent threat or immediately after an attack, according to a French government website.

France’s Defense and National Security Council will meet Friday morning, Castex said.

Speaking in the French parliament on Thursday, he also paid tribute to the three people who died.

“Three of our compatriots were assassinated with a knife in abject circumstances,” he said.

“In these tragic times, our thoughts go to the families, to their relatives, to Nice parishioners but also more broadly to the whole Catholic community that was intentionally targeted.”

The nation “shares their pain,” Castex said.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry “strongly condemns” the attack on a church in the French city of Nice and offered their “condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives”, a statement said. 

“There is no reason that can justify killing a person or justify violence. It is clear that those who organized such a brutal attack in a holy place of worship do not have any religious, humanitarian and moral values,” the statement said. 

“As a country that struggles with different types of terrorism and loses its citizens due to terrorism, we emphasize that we are in solidarity with the French people, especially the residents of Nice, against terrorism and violence,” it added. 

Relations between French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are increasingly tense. In the past week Erdogan said that Macron needs “mental treatment” over his attitude towards Muslims in France, prompting the French government to withdraw its ambassador from Ankara. 

French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Forensics officers work at the site of a knife attack as French soldiers stand guard in Nice.

One of the victims of the Nice terror attack in France had her throat slit, a police source has told CNN.

The local mayor had earlier described it as a decapitation.

According to the police source, one of the other victims – a man – died following multiple stabbings.

The third victim, a woman, was wounded inside the church, but managed to leave. However, she died in a nearby café, the police source said.

A Saudi man was arrested after attacking a guard at Jeddah’s French consulate with a sharp tool on Thursday, Saudi state media said. 

The stabbing attack resulted in minor injuries and the guard was moved to a hospital, state media added. 

The French embassy in Saudi Arabia condemned the attack calling it “flagrant”. 

“We express our trust in Saudi authorities to reveal the circumstances behind the attack, as well as to ensure the security of French property and the French community in Saudi Arabia,” the statement said.

Global leaders are responding to the alleged terror attack in Nice, France, pledging solidarity with the city and condemning the violence that has left at least three people dead.

The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, said on Twitter he was “deeply shocked and saddened by the news of the horrific attack in Nice.” He added: “This pain is felt by all of us in Europe.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also tweeted his “deep sympathy and solidarity towards the victim of the attack.” He added we are “united in face of terror and hatred.”

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also tweeted his condolences in both Italian and French, ending his message by saying “We are united!”

The French Council of the Muslim Faith has condemned the knife attack in the city of Nice which left three people dead.

“I strongly condemn the terrorist attack that took place near the Notre-Dame Basilica in Nice. As a sign of mourning and solidarity with the victims and their families, I call on the Muslims of France to cancel all the Mawlid festivities,” the council tweeted.

Mawlid is celebrated by some Muslims to mark the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

France’s anti-terror prosecutor has taken on the investigation into the knife attack in Nice, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said.

The knife attack took place in the vicinity of the city’s main church, the Notre Dame Basilica.

Nice is located on France’s southern coast, near Monaco and the border with Italy.

Three people are now confirmed dead – including one woman who was “decapitated” – following a terror attack in the French city of Nice, the mayor Christian Estrosi has said.

“It seems that, according to the first findings of the police, the woman who was inside the church has been decapitated. For the other victims, we cannot say anything at the moment,” he told BFM TV.

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Nice on Thursday after participating in a crisis meeting at the Interior Ministry, the Elysee Palace has said.

The country’s Prime Minister Jean Castex led lawmakers in a moment of silence at the National Assembly on Thursday morning after news of the incident broke.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex (second from left, behind the lower desk) leads lawmakers in a moment of silence at the National Assembly in Paris on Thursday, in tribute to the victims of a knife attack in Nice.

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, wrote on Twitter that he has spoken with Macron over the phone this morning, adding that the President passed on his thanks to local police.

French authorities enter to search the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice as forensics officers wait outside on Thursday.

Two people have been killed and a third is in a life-threatening condition after a knife attack in the French city of Nice, according to local mayor Christian Estrosi.

“At this moment, we have, without any doubt, two dead inside the church, in a horrible way,” Estrosi said.

Video from the scene posted to social media showed emergency services responding to the incident.

Medics are “trying everything to save the life of a third victim who was able to flee,” Estrosi said.

He said the attacker was shot by police, but is alive.

French policemen stand guard on a street in Nice, France, following a knife attack on Thursday, October 29.

Police in the French coastal city of Nice are responding to a knife attack in the vicinity of a church, which the local mayor has described as a “terrorist attack.”

Mayor Christian Estrosi said the attacker has been taken into custody.

“I am on the scene with the police who arrested the attacker. Everything points to a terrorist attack,” Estrosi tweeted Thursday morning.

France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said he was chairing a crisis meeting at the ministry in response to the attack.

There is no official information yet on the condition of victims.