Europe condemns Nice attack as France raises alert level to ‘urgent’

European Union leaders, including German
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, expressed solidarity with France and condemned the knife attack in the southern city
of Nice on Thursday that killed three and left several others injured.

In the wake of the attack, France raised its national alert level to ‘urgent’, AFP reported, the highest level nationally as the assault in Nice becomes the third apparent Jihadist attack in just over a month. 

Taking to
Twitter, Conte said, “The vile attack on the Cathedral of Nice will not shake
the common front defending the values of freedom and peace. Our convictions are
stronger than fanaticism, hatred and terror.”

Merkel
said she was “deep shaken” by the “brutal murders” in Nice.

“My
thoughts are with the relatives of those murdered and injured. Germany stands
with France at this difficult time,” she said in a tweet posted by her
spokesman Steffen Seibert.

The Turkish foreign ministry also “strongly” condemned the “savage” attacks in Nice. 

“I condemn the odious and brutal attack that has just taken place in Nice and I am with France with all my heart,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen tweeted.

Terming it as an “Islamo-facist attack”, Nice mayor Christian Estrosi told reporters that the assailant “kept repeating ‘Allahu Akbar’ even while under medication”. 

He also confirmed President Emmanuel Macron will soon visit the city. 

France has been on high alert for terror attacks since the massacre at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, the trail for the accomplices of which is currently ongoing in Paris. 

Outrage against France in Middle-East, Gulf 

The killing of history teacher Samuel Paty outside his school in a Paris suburb has drawn sharp rebuke from Macron, who has denounced Islamic extremism while continuing to back the right to mock religions under freedom of speech. 

However, his actions, including closing mosques and shutting down organisations that have been accused of promoting violence and radicalism, have not gone down well with the Muslim community in France and abroad. 

The latest outburst of anger against France came in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, where a citizen wounded a security personnel outside the French consulate. 

“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,” the embassy said in a statement.