JOUE-LES-TOURS: France yesterday probed a suspected ‘radical Islamist’ attack on police that left two officers seriously injured and the assailant dead, prompting security to be stepped up at police and fire stations nationwide.
Bertrand Nzohabonayo was shot dead on Saturday after entering a police station in the central town of Joue-les-Tours armed with a knife, seriously wounding two officers — slashing one in the face — and hurting another. “The investigation is leading towards an attack... motivated by radical Islamist motives,” said a source close to the probe, which is being carried out by anti-terror investigators from the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The assailant, a French national born in Burundi in 1994, cried “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) during the assault, added the source. Local prosecutor Jean-Luc Beck said investigators would seek to determine whether “he acted alone or if he acted on orders”, adding that none of the three injured police officers were in critical condition.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who rushed to the scene of the attack on Saturday, said he had ordered “security measures to be stepped up” for police personnel and firefighters across the country.
Nzohabonayo had previously committed petty offences but was not on a domestic intelligence watch-list although his brother is known for his radical views and once pondered going to Syria, the source said. He is currently abroad, another source said.
On Thursday, Nzohabonayo posted the flag of the radical Islamic State group as his profile picture on a Facebook page identified as his by several experts on jihadist groups. But paradoxically, he also liked a page called “Islamic State in Iraq: Not in my name”, for Muslims that “refuse to be associated” with violence waged by the group in Iraq and Syria.
Photos circulating on social networks showed a smiling man with a shaved head and black beard. One of his former sports teachers said he was a quiet, reserved boy.
“When he arrived at the football club from the Paris region, he was around 16 or 17,” said the teacher, who asked not to named. “He wanted to be the referee, which is unusual at that age. He was devoted to justice.” Several people near his sister’s flat in a poor part of town refused to believe the attack was spurred by radical Islamist motives.
“That’s not what our town is about. We have managed to install dialogue and understanding between communities,” said Ahmed Moussaoui, a retired man who heads up a local association. The mayor of the 36,000-strong town said the incident was a “real shock for all residents”. “It’s an isolated act in a peaceful town,” said Frederic Augis. AFP
