Criminal investigation

Nice attacker plotted for months and had accomplices, French prosecutor says

The man who plowed a truck into a crowd during Bastille Day celebrations in the Riviera city of Nice last week — killing at least 84 and injuring more than 300 — plotted his attack for months and had accomplices, the Paris prosecutor announced Thursday.

Speaking to reporters here in the French capital, François Molins said an analysis of the attacker’s cellphone revealed photographs and search histories suggesting that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian-born driver of the truck, had contemplated an attack as early as 2015.

Molins also confirmed that five suspects — four men and one woman — have been identified and taken into custody. They will face preliminary terrorism charges over their alleged roles in the July 14 attack.