Saturday morning, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack occurred in Nice during the celebration of Bastille Day, as the Islamic State said that the truck driver, who killed 84 people, was one of its soldiers and was acting on ISIS’s behalf.
The authorities identified the attacker as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a 31-year-old French man with Tunisian ascendancy. Bouhlel had lived the last six years in Nice. His father described him as an angry man who suffered breakdowns. Bohhel’s father, Mohamed Mondher, also assured that he was on medication and had been going to the psychiatrist. His family thought, even though he hadn’t been at home in the last four years, he was getting better
Terror takes over Bastille Day
The terrorist attack took place approximately at 11 pm on Thursday at the end of Bastille Day at the Promenade des Anglais, a boulevard in the seaside of Nice. Apparently, people were celebrating Bastille Day when a 19-tons white truck rammed into the crowd zigzagging all the way through.
It was reported that Bouhlel rented the truck on 11 July. The official also said the truck driver had an automatic weapon, bullets, a false pistol and an empty grenade at the time of the attacks. Bouhlel carried the driving license and a credit card with him too.
It is still unclear to the authorities if the attacker was acting alone. This morning, the so-called Islamic State assumed the responsibility for the attack in Nice, saying that Bouhlel was one of its “soldier” and was acting on its behalf. Currently, there are five people in custody because of the attack. Bouhlel’s ex-wife was also taking to the police for investigation. According to her, he was no Jihadist, he drank even in Ramadan, and he wasn’t a religious person. He was just a lonely man with depression problems.
ISIS taking credit over Nice Attacks
Given the Islamic State’s claims of responsibility, the French authorities said the attacker might have been quickly radicalized. However, the veracity of ISIS’s participation is not yet confirmed by the investigators. It seems that ISIS is just trying to get free publicity and credit over the terror generated by Bouhlel’s attack. Yasmine, Bouhlel’s neighbor, affirmed he was a violent person.
“It was his eyes, and they scared me,” she said. As well, Walid Hamou, a friend of Bouhlel’s ex-wife said: “he was no muslin” since he drank a lot, he hit his wife and children when they were too little to walk, and he didn’t fast in Ramadan. According to Hamou’s declarations, Bouhlel did it because “he had nothing to lose.”
“France was hit on the day of its national holiday, the 14th of July, symbol of liberty because fanatics denies the rights of man and France is inevitable their target,” said Hollande.
He declared measures to prevent other attacks inside the territory from happening, as he made a call to the French military’s operational Reserve to place at least 7.000 officers as part of the known Operation ‘Sentinelle’ to protect critical public places such as synagogues, schools, and metro stations.
Hollande also affirmed he would do everything in his power to fight against “the scourge of terrorism.” However, the French opposition leader described French leadership as “incapable”, given not enough measures had been taken to prevent this event and other terrorist acts. Nice attacks are the third terrorist-related attacks occurred in France in the last 18 months, starting with the Charlie Hebdo shooting on 7 January 2015. These events have damaged Hollande’s popularity as new elections are about to be celebrated next year in France.
The world is in mourning after the attacks in France
But French people are not the only grieved ones. Among the 84 victims, there were ten kids, as well as people with different nationalities: an American 11-years old boy and his father, a Russian student, and other tourist and migrants from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the attacks on Friday, stating it was a “barbaric and cowardly” event. Moreover, the Security Council said it was too early to know the real connection between Bouhlel and ISIS, but that it is urgent for the Member States to fight terrorism using every resource under international legislation. As well, important leaders, such as Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin have sent its condolences to France, the latter describing Nice attacks as a “disgusting act of terror”, as he stressed that only with united efforts could be terrorism defeated.
Source: Fox News