Attack at Marseille Train Station Leaves 2 Women Dead
October 2, 2017 by admin
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The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack several hours later, calling the assailant one of its “soldiers.”
The group’s Amaq news agency said the man had been inspired by calls to carry out attack in Western countries. In 2014, ISIS called on sympathizers to commit violence using any means available, including stabbings, in those countries whose militaries were fighting the terror group in Iraq and Syria.
The group’s claim of responsibility could not be independently verified.
Asked about reports that the attacker yelled “Allahu akbar,” or “God is greatest” in Arabic, at the moment of the attack, Jean-Claude Gaudin, the mayor of Marseille, said that “a certain number” of witnesses had said they heard him do so, but he added that they were still being interviewed by the police for further details.
“We have video images that will enable us to assess the situation,” Mr. Collomb said, referring to security camera footage in the station. “What is strange on the video is that the person starts to commit his crime on a first person, then he runs away, and then he turns back to kill the second person.”
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By The New York Times
A military patrol that had rushed to the scene after hearing cries of panic and seeing people running fired warning shots at the attacker, Mr. Collomb said, and then shot and killed him when he rushed at them.
Soldiers and armed police officers with protective gear barred access to the train station for much of Sunday afternoon, and the national railway operator urged travelers to avoid the station, but the authorities said later in the day that train service was slowly returning to normal.
France has been on high alert for acts of terrorism since 2015, after a string of attacks that killed more than 230 people. The deadliest attack was an assault in November 2015 by coordinated teams of Islamic State operatives who killed 130 people in and around Paris, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency.
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The state of emergency, which enables the authorities to raid homes and place people under house arrest without the authorization of a judge, has been renewed several times and will end on Nov. 1.
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But Parliament is expected to vote soon on a bill that would give security forces additional powers, some similar to those in the state of emergency, to monitor suspects, conduct raids and search bags or vehicles. Civil rights groups have criticized the legislation.
In a statement on Sunday evening, Édouard Philippe, the French prime minister, expressed “anger and outrage” after the attack and praised the soldiers who had “neutralized the criminal and stopped his killing spree.”
“We will not drop our guard,” Mr. Philippe added on Twitter.
So far in 2017, there have not been large-scale attacks like the ones that struck Paris in 2015 and Nice in 2016, but France has grown wearily accustomed to smaller, sporadic attacks, especially against police officers and soldiers patrolling sensitive or crowded sites.
In September, a man wielding a knife was arrested after he attacked a military patrol in one of the biggest metro stations in Paris; but no one was injured. In August, a driver plowed into a military patrol in Levallois-Perret, a suburb just north of the capital, injuring six soldiers.
Other attacks have been carried out by mentally ill residents, who sometimes imitate acts of terrorism, according to officials.
In August, a man with a history of psychiatric disorders rammed a vehicle into two bus stops in Marseille, killing one woman, but the authorities said the episode was not related to terrorism.
In September, four American college students traveling through the Saint-Charles station were attacked with acid by a psychologically disturbed woman, officials said.
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Catalonia’s Independence Vote Descends Into Chaos and Clashes
October 2, 2017 by admin
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Recent opinion polls suggest that slightly less than half of Catalonia’s 7.5 million people support separation from Spain, but separatist parties won a majority in the region’s Parliament in 2015 and their influence has grown.
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Many say Catalonia would face a perilous and uncertain future outside Spain, the market for most of the region’s goods, and would not be assured of being readmitted to the European Union.
Others complained that the thrust for independence had deepened divisions within the region, whose vibrant economy has attracted families from inside and outside Spain.
Olga Noheda, a doctor in Centelles, said one of her patients, an older man, began crying in her examination room, and explained that his granddaughter had begun expressing dislike for Spaniards.
“He was very sad, because he didn’t understand where it all came from,” she said. “He migrated to Catalonia many years ago, from Seville, and he was wondering if his granddaughter was aware that he was a Spaniard.”
In Barcelona’s Placa de Catalunya late Sunday night, voters chanted and celebrated the referendum, even if it remained very unclear how the separatist leaders hope to enforce its outcome.
“We’ve shown our way of making politics and changing things is very different to that of Spain,” said Marti Feliu, 21, a history student at Barcelona University. “It’s our opportunity to create a different kind of country, even if we don’t yet know exactly how and when.”
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