No signs truck attacker linked to extremist network

Volunteers install items at a new memorial in a gazebo in a seaside park on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Monday, July 18, 2016. Duprat initially said the man was upset that the girls were wearing shorts and T-shirts, but later said that didn’t appear to be the case and that the attacker’s motive wasn’t known. Garbage collectors threw the refuse into the back of a garbage truck.

Italy is investigating if the Nice truck attacker recently had contacts with Tunisians living in the southeastern Puglia region, according to news agency ANSA.

Some French people showed their frustration with the government by booing the prime minister in Nice.

Alfano’s spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a call for comment, and anti-terrorism police in Bari didn’t immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Bouhlel took selfies in his truck hours before the attack and sent a text message asking for more weapons minutes before he plowed into the crowd, the French prosecutor said.

Mr Cazeneuve said Bouhlel was “an unbalanced and very violent individual”.

IS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Five days after the attack, 70 people remain hospitalised, 19 in critical condition.

Investigators said they had discovered 11 telephones, cocaine and 2,600 euros ($2,900) in the home of one of the suspects, an Albanian national. Three of the six already had been transferred to the intelligence headquarters on Monday.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s estranged wife, who was detained on Friday, was released on Sunday.

Debbie Cook told reporters outside the Pasteur hospital Monday that her friend, 22-year-old Adelaide Stratton, suffered serious injuries but that “she is getting better every day”.

Elsewhere in Nice were signs that the city is coming back to life.

Pradal said the attack in Nice, which follows two mass killings by Islamic extremists in Paris previous year, shows that his city represents a particular target for extremists because of its long history as a Mediterranean melting pot that is tolerant of all nationalities and religions.

A minute’s silence will be held across France later today to remember those killed in the Nice attacks.

Driver Mohamed Lahouiaej Bouhlel sped his truck through the crowd, aiming to kill. More than 300 people were injured. Buildings stood silent across the country.

The two men had spoken several times in recent weeks, the sources said without giving further details.

Bouhlel’s rapid radicalization has puzzled investigators.

“Mohamed didn’t pray, didn’t go to the mosque and ate pork”, said Sadok Bouhlel, 69, a retired teacher. The uncle said he learned about the Algerian recruiter from extended family members who live in Nice. Whether those were sufficient is part of the investigation now being conducted, he said.

That fear drove French President Francois Hollande to push for an extension of a state of emergency that’s been in place since deadly attacks on Paris in November. This attack is the third major terror attack in France since the Charlie Hebdo shootings in 2015.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday that all 84 victims of the Nice massacre had finally been identified. French warplanes have been involved in the operation in Iraq and to a lesser degree in Syria.

From July 1 Bouhlel had searched for information about the Bastille Day fireworks display online and searches such as “horrible fatal accident”, “terrible fatal accident” and “shocking videos not for sensible viewers”.