FRANCE Sunday, probed a suspected ‘radical Islamic’ attack on police that left two officers seriously injured and the assailant dead, prompting security to be stepped up at police and fire stations nationwide.
Bertrand Nzohabonayo, was shot dead Saturday after entering a police station in the central town of Joue-les-Tours armed with a knife, seriously wounding two officers — slashing one in the face – and hurting another. AFP, Reported.
“The investigation is leading towards an attack… motivated by radical Islamist motives,” said a source close to the probe, which is being carried out by anti-terror investigators from the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The assailant, a French national born in Burundi in 1994, cried “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) during the assault, added the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Local prosecutor Jean-Luc Beck, said investigators would seek to determine whether “he acted alone or if he acted on orders”, adding that none of the three injured police officers were in critical condition.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who rushed to the scene of the attack at the weekend, said he had ordered “security measures to be stepped up” for police personnel and firefighters across the country.
Nzohabonayo, had previously committed petty offences but was not on a domestic intelligence watch-list although his brother is known for his radical views and once pondered going to Syria, the source said.
He is currently abroad, another source added.
Last Thursday, Nzohabonayo, posted the flag of the radical Islamic State group as his profile picture on a Facebook page identified as his by several experts on jihadist groups.
But paradoxically, he also liked a page called “Islamic State in Iraq: Not in my name”, for Muslims that “refuse to be associated” with violence waged by the group in Iraq and Syria.
Photos circulating on social networks showed a smiling man with a shaved head and black beard.
