Nice Attack A New Strike Against French Tourism

While so-called lone wolves or small groups using commonplace items like cars or knives to carry out attacks are notoriously hard to track, the killer in Nice rented the huge 19-ft. truck, which some analysts say could be a way in for law enforcement to do track his movements, or find more information on his ties to Islamist leaders overseas or fellow militants already inside France.

French authorities are trying to determine whether a Tunisian who killed at least 84 people by ploughing a truck into Bastille Day crowds acted alone or with accomplices, but said the attack bore the hallmarks of Islamist militants.

It was not immediately clear who would have been behind an attack, but France has recently seen a spate of dramatic assaults from by jihadist groups, including the Islamic State group which straddles Iraq and Syria. He visited wounded people in two hospitals, including one where officials had treated about 50 children and teenagers for a wide range of injuries. Five remained in critical condition Friday night, according to Stephanie Simpson, the communications director for the Lenval Foundation hospital. “The guy next to me pulled her out”, he said in broken English.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told the evening news that Bouhlel was “one way or another” linked to radical Islam. “They identified him by his T-shirt”.

Sherine and Mehdi were out for the French national holiday celebration with their 40-year-old mother, Bouchra, and their 38-year-old aunt, who Zenatti identified only as “Tata” – French for “auntie”.

“It is a bit additive”, he said. “She’s on life support”.

Video footage showed men and women – one or two pushing strollers – racing to get away from the scenes. A pink girl’s bicycle is briefly seen overturned by the side of the road.

The Lenval Foundation hospital has one of France’s largest pediatric emergency units, but Simpson said it asked the families of children it was already treating to pick up their kids so as to free up rooms for attack victims. Simpson said the institution was also offering counseling to parents and siblings.

The Needed Me singer was in town for her Anti World Tour that kicked off in March and will run through Europe, South America, and Asia until August with a final performance in Abu Dhabi in November.

“I saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route”.

He also said that the country will beef up its security sector that has been left to languish in recent years, and step up vigilance on anyone at risk of carrying out such an attack.

Matthew Henman, the head of IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, said in a statement Friday that the use of such a large truck “at an ideologically symbolic event represents an evolution in the use of the tactic and potentially indicates a higher level of operational planning”. “I don’t think you can give a firm estimate of the impact, but it is the culmination of a number of shocks that adds to that overall sense of economic uncertainty that is out there”. “I told (my daughter) to stay at home and never leave”.