With 84 dead and 202 injured, many critically, at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France is facing the aftershocks of its latest terrorist attack.
The attacker, identified by Paris authorities as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, drove a white truck down a promenade crowded with people looking to enjoy fireworks and a concert, and plowed over dozens in a one-mile stretch. The attacker reportedly opened fire at the crowd before being shot and killed by police.
The Promenade des Anglais is a seaside boulevard and tourist attraction. Ten children and teenagers, as well as two Americans, were among those killed, the New York Times reported.
Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said that though Bouhlel – who had an arrest history for “threats, violence and petty theft” – had no apparent connections to extremist groups, the attack “fits very well in the context of the cause made by the terrorist organizations in various videos and messages.”
French President Francois Hollande, speaking to the country Friday, called the attack “a form of sabotage.” “The horror, the horror has, once again, hit France. … Human rights are denied by fanatics, and France is clearly their target,” he said.
France has declared a national state of emergency. Last year in November, it saw 130 people killed in a terrorist attack, claimed by ISIS, targeting six Paris locations. In January, a three-day string of attacks, claimed by Al Qaeda, saw 12 killed inside the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo, a policewoman dead in Paris and four hostages killed in a grocery store.
President Barack Obama condemned the attacks in a statement Thursday. “I have directed my team to be in touch with French officials, and we have offered any assistance that they may need to investigate this attack and bring those responsible to justice,” Obama said. “We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack.”
