France has never known such serious danger, says PM

A driver ploughed into a Christmas market in western France Monday, injuring at least 11 people before stabbing himself, a day after a man shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) ran over pedestrians in another French city.

Monday’s incident occurred in the city of Nantes, where at least four of the casualties were being treated for serious injuries. Video images on French television showed a white Peugeot van in the Christmas market, which was being held in the city’s main square. Speaking on French television, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said the driver “deliberately crashed into the crowd.”

French officials called for vigilance but warned against jumping to conclusions. Monday’s attack followed a pair of weekend incidents — one in which a driver ran down 13 bystanders, and another in which a recent convert to Islam knifed police officers.

On Sunday, a man drove into pedestrians on the streets of the eastern city of Dijon, injuring 13. The driver was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) and “that he was acting for the children of Palestine,” a source close to the investigation said. He was suffering from a severe psychological disorder, a prosecutor said, in an apparent attempt to ease concerns that the attack was inspired by Islamic extremism.

On Saturday, a man was shot dead by police after walking into a police station in the central town of Joue-les-Tours and attacking three officers with a knife while yelling “Allahu Akbar”.

Authorities in Nantes said there were no indications of a terrorist link in the Christmas market attack. “We cannot speak of a terrorist act,” local prosecutor Brigitte Lamy told reporters at the scene, saying that initial evidence pointed instead to an “isolated case” which was “of the same kind as the one that took place in Dijon”.

President Francois Hollande urged the public not to panic while government spokesman Stephane Le Foll warned against “lumping them (attacks) together”.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls reiterated the appeal for “coolheadedness” after the Christmas market attack.

Monday’s attack in France’s sixth-biggest city took place at around 7:00 pm local time (1800 GMT) as people across the country thronged shops and markets in search of last-minute Christmas presents.

The van driver charged at a chalet serving hot wine, in front of which several people had congregated, a witness told AFP.

A source close to the investigation said that, after slamming into the shoppers, he stabbed himself “at least nine times”, causing himself serious injuries.

No ‘specific demand’

Lamy said the attacker was known to police, without specifying why, and said he had not voiced “any specific demand”.

Investigators were examining a notebook found next to the white van, she added.

The three attacks have jarred nerves in France after repeated threats against the country over its involvement in the fight against Islamic extremists in Africa and the Middle East.

Valls said Monday that more than 1,000 nationals were involved in one way or another with jihad in Syria or Iraq, of whom 56 or 57 have since died.

“We have never known such serious danger where terrorism is concerned,” he said.

The man behind Saturday’s attack in Joue-Les-Tours, identified as Bertrand Nzohabonayo, a Burundian convert to Islam, apparently shouted “Allahu Akbar” — the Islamic phrase meaning “God is great” that has been used by Islamist fighters in wars or by extremists when waging violent attacks

Counter-terrorist police are investigating that attack, which left two officers seriously injured and a third with light injuries.

Bertrand Nzohabonayo had posted an IS flag on his Facebook page last week.

A legal resident in France, he was known for petty crime but was not on a domestic intelligence watchlist although his brother Brice, who was arrested in Burundi after the attack, is known for his radical views.

Nzohabonayo’s mother had told authorities in August last year that she was worried about Brice’s influence on his brother, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said.

‘Acted for Chechnya children’

But French authorities moved quickly to quash speculation about the country being under attack.

A prosecutor in Dijon said the 40-year-old driver of the car who targeted passersby at five different locations on Sunday had been to psychiatric hospital 157 times and had no known links to jihadist groups.

She said he told police that he ploughed into people due to a sudden “outburst of empathy for the children of Chechnya” and had shouted “Allahu Akbar” to give him courage.

“He was not guided by religion but because he felt that politically he had to react,” she said.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve visited Dijon Monday, an indication of the government’s heightened concerns days after Islamic extremists renewed calls for individuals to strike in the West.

The Islamic State jihadist group has repeatedly called for attacks against France, most recently in a video posted on jihadist sites.