Pedestrians and a cyclist were deliberately run down by a motorist said by police to have cried well-worn war cry “Allahu Akhbar”, with a sovereigntist political activist of the National Rally among those now in critical condition.
What observers have called an “Islamist” or “Jihadist” attack, the kind long known in French cities, has struck ‘La France Profonde’, or deep France, with at least ten injured by a man driving a car into members of the public on a picturesque island best known for its fishing community and slow pace of life.
10 people were injured on Wednesday morning on the Île d’Oléron, an island in the Bay of Biscay near Rochefort by a motorist. Of those injured, four are said to be in “critical condition”. A political aide to a Rassemblement National (the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen) politician is reported by Le Figaro to be one of the worst injured, she having been run over while out jogging at the beach, and has been airlifted to hospital in a state of “absolute emergency”.
Update 1500 — Two in critical condition
While four of the most seriously injured were airlifted to hospital in the wake of the attack, the official count has reduced from four in critical condition to two in the time since news first broke on this rampage. Giving an update during a visit to the Île d’Oléron, the French Interior Minister said the suspect is “not saying much” in police custody but that the investigation is pushing on, including searches of the arrested man’s property.
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A 35-year-old man has been arrested. Police say the suspect is known to officers for small-time criminal activity and drug use and that he lives in a nearby community. A criminal case of attempted murder has been opened, but despite the war cry uttered at the time of the man’s arrest, prosecutors say they haven’t decided what the motive to run several people over at multiple locations on the island may have been.
The local public prosecutor is reported to have said: “At the time of his arrest, he shouted ‘Allah Akbar.’ However, the motive has not been confirmed and the investigation will have to determine it”. Counter-terror police are on scene but have not yet taken control of the investigation.
The car used in the apparent attack was torched by the assailant as he attempted to flee on foot, and it is stated multiple gas cylinders were found in the vehicle, implying an attempt to cause an explosion. Police have not confirmed this at time of publication.
Conservative commentators and politicians spoke out to decry the perpetrator, the attack, and to note in particular how what they called Islamist terror has spread to even France profonde, the deepest and most picturesque parts of the country. Éric Zemmour, a essayist and polemicist-turned candidate for the French Presidency said with his characteristic style: “Just a few years ago, places like the Île d’Oléron were refuges for those who still wanted to live in a preserved France. Today, the situation is such that we see jihadists emerging everywhere in France.”
Jordan Bardella, the Parliamentary leader of the National Rally party which is said to have seen one of its employees critically injured, called for a strict punishment for the perpetrator of what he called “blind and deliberate violence”. His party colleague, MP Sébastien Chenu reflected that nowhere is safe from “this phenomenon” anymore and called on the state to fight the “Islamist hydra”.
He said: “The Islamist threat has never been stronger. This is a war that must be waged here and now. Our country has already paid a heavy price to Islamism”.
This story is developing, more follows
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