The Kremlin, commenting on recent beheading incidents in France, said on Thursday it was unacceptable to kill people, but also wrong to insult the feelings of religious believers.
The Kremlin was commenting after a knife-wielding attacker shouting “Allahu Akbar” beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a suspected terrorist attack at a church in the French city of Nice.
After Nice Church attack, another knife-wielding man shouting “Allahu Akbar” tried to attack a group of police officers patrolling the streets of Avignon in southeastern France. The officers opened fire, killing the assailant. The reported attack took place at approximately 11:15 local time and according to French media, the alleged attacker lunged at the officers.
The incident took place shortly after an attack at the basilica in the Norte-Dame area of Nice in which three people were killed by a man armed with a knife. The man tried to stab police officers shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.
Meanwhile, France has raised attack alert level to ‘urgent’ and has launched an investigation into the attack while anti-terrorism prosecutors have already begun investigation the Church attack in Nice. The knife attack in Nice left at least three people dead and several injured, French officials have said.
While President Emmanuel Macron is heading to the city, while Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin held a crisis meeting as he warned people to avoid the site of the attack, reported AFP.
“I can confirm everything suggests this was a terror attack in the Notre-Dame Basilica,” said Mayor Christian Estrosi, a former MP with the right-wing Republicans party, in a tweet.
In another tweet, he said, “I spoke with the president on the phone, he extended his gratitude to the Nice police and all the security forces, and asked me to extend his support to the residents of Nice, where he will arrive late this morning.”
The incident, which has been described as terrorism, comes less than two weeks after the beheading of middle school teacher Samuel Paty by a Muslim man of Chechen origin.
Paty’s attacker confessed that he killed him as a punishment for disrespecting the Prophet as he has shown the “derogatory” caricatures to his students in his class on freedom of speech.
Condemning the incident, British Prime Minister Boris Jhonson said he was appalled to hear the news from Nice this morning of a barbaric attack at the Notre-Dame Basilica.
“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and the UK stands steadfastly with France against terror and intolerance,” PM Jhonson said in a tweet.
