Paris: Nice truck killer planned attack for months
Five suspects held for assisting Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel in carrying out Bastille Day rampage that killed 84
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French truck killer Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was helped to prepare his Bastille Day attack by five suspects who are now in custody, prosecutor Francois Molins said Thursday.
Molins said the four men and a woman were “involved in the preparation” of the attack, which had been planned months in advance.
More than 400 investigators have been poring over evidence since the July 14 attack in which Bouhlel rammed a truck into crowds on the Nice promenade, leaving 84 dead and over 300 injured.
Molins said that one of the suspects had filmed the scene of the crime the day after the carnage, as it crawled with police and journalists.
The five suspects will be presented to anti-terrorism judges later Thursday and Molins said prosecutors had requested they be charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, among other crimes.
On Wednesday, French lawmakers voted to extend a state of emergency as President Francois Hollande said that a call to boost reserve forces had paved the way towards a “National Guard.”
The government is scrambling to find new ways to assure a jittery population after the Bastille Day rampage became the third major terror attack to strike France in 18.
It is the fourth time the measures have been extended since Islamic State jihadists struck Paris in November 2015, killing 130 people at restaurants, a concert hall and the national stadium.
Earlier in the day, Paris officials said that all 84 victims of the July 14 attack had been identified.
The Times of Israel Community.