The truck driver who plowed into a French holiday crowd Thursday to kill 84 and injured 200 had asked for “more weapons” in a text message before the attack in Nice, and the attack came after police removed vans that had been blocking the road, according to news reports.
The updates came as French authorities announced Sunday they detained two more people, an unnamed man and woman, in connection with the attack, according to multiple news reports. The latest arrests make a total of seven suspects in police custody since the deadly Bastille Day attack.
The driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a Tunisian who had lived in Nice for years, drove through the crowd for more than a mile before police shot him dead. His mobile phone sent a test that said “bring more weapons, bring him in at 5 C,” on Thursday at 10:27 p.m., according to the French television station BFMTV.
The attack came hours after police removed four vans that had blocked Promenade des Anglais for a military parade earlier in the day, according to The Telegraphnewspaper in the United Kingdom. Just 60 officers were on duty, despite warnings that Nice was a target of jihadists who had visited Syria, according to the paper.
“Terrorism will be part of our daily lives for a long time,” said France’s prime minister, Manual Valls.
In an interview with the Journal du dimanche newspaper, Valls said the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack, is encouraging more people to stage attacks. He said of the driver that “the killer was radicalized very quickly.”
Investigators are trying to determine whether Bouhlel acted alone.
A man and woman were detained Sunday morning in Nice, the AP, Reuters and Agence France Presse reported, all citing an unnamed official from the Paris prosecutor’s office. Neither suspect was identified.
The truck driver who plowed into a French holiday crowd Thursday to kill 84 and injured 200 had asked for “more weapons” in a text message before the attack in Nice, and the attack came after police removed vans that had been blocking the road, according to news reports.
The updates came as French authorities announced Sunday they detained two more people, an unnamed man and woman, in connection with the attack, according to multiple news reports. The latest arrests make a total of seven suspects in police custody since the deadly Bastille Day attack.
The driver, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a Tunisian who had lived in Nice for years, drove through the crowd for more than a mile before police shot him dead. His mobile phone sent a test that said “bring more weapons, bring him in at 5 C,” on Thursday at 10:27 p.m., according to the French television station BFMTV.
The attack came hours after police removed four vans that had blocked Promenade des Anglais for a military parade earlier in the day, according to The Telegraphnewspaper in the United Kingdom. Just 60 officers were on duty, despite warnings that Nice was a target of jihadists who had visited Syria, according to the paper.
“Terrorism will be part of our daily lives for a long time,” said France’s prime minister, Manual Valls.
In an interview with the Journal du dimanche newspaper, Valls said the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack, is encouraging more people to stage attacks. He said of the driver that “the killer was radicalized very quickly.”
Investigators are trying to determine whether Bouhlel acted alone.
A man and woman were detained Sunday morning in Nice, the AP, Reuters and Agence France Presse reported, all citing an unnamed official from the Paris prosecutor’s office. Neither suspect was identified.
[Source:- USA Today]
