At least one suspected Islamist launched a daylight raid on an industrial gas factory in France on Friday (local time) and pinned a severed head to the gates, in what President Francois Hollande called a "terrorist" attack.
The grisly attack near France's second city of Lyon came on an especially bloody day worldwide, with at least 27 gunned down at a beach resort in Tunisia and 13 killed in a suicide bombing in Kuwait claimed by Islamic State extremists.
"The intent was without doubt to cause an explosion. It was a terrorist attack," said President Hollande in Brussels, cutting short an EU summit to chair emergency meetings in the French capital.
President Hollande said a vehicle driven at high speed by "one person, maybe accompanied by another" smashed into the factory, about 40km from Lyon.
"At the time I am speaking, there is one dead and two injured," said a grim-faced President Hollande, calling for "solidarity" for the victim, who was found with Arabic inscriptions on him.
The bloody discovery of the decapitated head is thought to be the first instance in France of a beheading during an attack - which has become a trademark of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
And the gruesome killing came nearly six months after the Islamist attacks in and around Paris that left 17 people dead and started with a shooting at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The 35-year-old attacker, identified as Yassin Salhi, had been known to security services for a number of years but did not have a criminal record, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
The minister said a local firefighter who rushed to the scene of the attack had overpowered the suspect, praising him for his "courage and ... cool head".
Mr Salhi and his wife have been taken into custody and an anti-terrorist probe has been launched, Mr Cazeneuve said.
At least one other person is also being questioned as part of the investigation but there is no formal link with the attack, said sources close to the probe.
"There was a decapitated body with inscriptions," said President Hollande, although sources close to the enquiry said it was not clear whether the victim was transported to the site or whether the beheading was carried out at the factory.
"A flag with Arabic writing on it was found at the scene," said Mr Cazeneuve, adding that the text was being translated.
The suspect entered the factory owned by American group Air Products and set off several small explosive devices, sources close to the investigation said, with at least two people hurt in the assault.
Police said it was unclear whether the attacker was acting alone, or had accomplices.
The victim was later identified as a businessman from the suburbs of Lyon.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who is on an official trip in South America, ordered security measures stepped up at all sensitive sites in the area.
"Islamist terrorism has hit France again," Valls told reporters in Bogota.
France has been on high alert since January 7 when two Islamist brothers attacked Charlie Hebdo, killing 12. A policewoman and four hostages in a Jewish supermarket were also killed during the three-day attacks.
AFP
Terror victim was suspect's boss
The man decapitated in an attack on an industrial gas factory in eastern France was the boss of the suspect now in police custody, legal sources said.
The head of the victim, who ran a delivery service, was found pinned to the gates at the American-owned Air Products factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier on Friday. It was surrounded by two Islamist flags.
His body was found inside the factory, the site of what French President Francois Hollande called a terrorist attack.
Yassin Salhi, 35, is suspected of driving one of the delivery service's vehicles into the factory grounds during the attack.
Though access to the facility is restricted because it contains dangerous substances, the delivery company had clearance to enter.
AFP
Hollande raises security level in attack region
French President Francois Hollande has announced he is raising the security level to "attack" - the highest possible - in the region in which a gas factory was assaulted.
A stern President Hollande said the "attack" level would be maintained in the region of Rhone-Alpes for three days after the raid on Friday, during which a severed head was pinning to the factory gates.
AFP
source: newshub archive
