Daily News Egypt, November 2020
France is believed to be facing a new terrorist threat, similar to the attacks that hit the European country in 2015 and 2016. Some groups representing Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda exploit the outrage over controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
In October, the country saw several attacks that pushed the government to raise the nationwide terror alert level to maximum. The new terror alert level comes just as France goes into a second national lockdown that is likely to last until the end of November.
On 31 October, a Greek Orthodox priest was shot by an assailant using a sawed-off shotgun while he was closing a church in Lyon. The reason for the attack remains unclear, and the priest is currently receiving treatment in a local hospital.
On 29 October, three people were killed in a knife attack on a church in the southern French city of Nice. Police managed to shoot the assailant, who has been identified as a 21-year-old Tunisian man who recently arrived in France. The French authorities said the incident was an “Islamist terrorist attack”.
