CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2020) The Prosecutor's Office of Tunisia's counter-terrorism court has launched an investigation into allegation that a Tunisian citizen committed a terrorist attack in France's Nice, a spokesman for the court of first instance, Mohsen Dali, has said.
On Thursday morning, three people were killed in a knife attack at the church in Nice. According to Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi, the assailant continued to shout "Allahu Akbar" even as he was detained by police. French President Emmanuel Macron said that the incident was an Islamist terrorist attack, and the suspect is currently in police custody. The attack has been under investigation by the anti-terrorism department of the prosecutor's office.
"The probe has been opened into allegation that a Tunisian made a terrorist attack outside the country, as a result of which people were killed and injured," Dali said, as quoted by the Tunisian Mosaique FM radio station.
The inquiry was initiated immediately following first reports on the perpetrator's identity, which said he has Tunisian citizenship, the spokesman added.
The Al Arabiya broadcaster, in turn, reported that the attacker's name was Brahim Aoussaoui, who has previously lived in the town of Bouhajla in Tunisia's northern province of Kairouan.
Later in the day, French anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard confirmed that the 21-year-old perpetrator was originally from Tunisia and had arrived in France on October 9. The prosecutor added that the attacker was not previously known to intelligence services. An inquiry is underway to find out whether the attacker had accomplices.
Following the tragic incident, France has activated counter-terrorism plan known as Vigipirate.
