Extremists attack
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Fears
of extremism spike in France after driver slams car into pedestrians
Published
December 22, 2014
PARIS – A driver deliberately
slammed his car into crowds around the city of Dijon in eastern France on Sunday,
raising concerns at a time when Islamic extremists are calling for attacks in
France.
The Sunday night rampage came a day
after a knife attack on police in another French town that counter-terrorist
police are investigating. The government said the motive for Sunday's attack
was unclear.
The government stepped up security
measures for police and other authorities.
In Sunday's incident, police arrested
the out-of-control driver after he injured at least 11 people, the Interior
Ministry said in a statement.
The Islamic State group and other
terrorist organizations have repeatedly called for attacks against France,
notably because of the French military's participation in U.S.-led airstrikes
in Iraq. Some extremists have specifically suggested that anyone angry at the
French government could use weapons easily at hand — such as cars or knives —
to stage "lone wolf" attacks.
The Interior Ministry said the driver in
Sunday's car attack, a 40-year-old driving a Renault Clio, was known to police
for minor offenses in the 1990s.
Police union official Michel Bonnet said
on BFM television that some witnesses apparently heard the driver say
"Allahu Akbar," or "God Is Great," and refer to the
"children of Palestine." But the Interior Ministry would not confirm
that.
In an indication of how seriously the
government is taking the incident, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was to
head to Dijon on Monday.
Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet
said it was too early to say whether there was any connection between the Sunday
car attack and the knife attack in Joue-les-Tours in central France on
Saturday.
In the Saturday incident, two police
officers were seriously injured and the attacker was killed, according to the
ministry. While the motive remains uncertain, anti-terrorism police are
involved in the investigation.
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