Three terror attacks were reported from France, Kuwait and Tunisia on Friday noon. While the attacks were different in nature, the Kuwait terror strike has been claimed to be perpetrated by the ISIS. No one has claimed responsibility yet for the attacks in France and Tunisia.
With the extremist group Islamic State close to its first anniversary on Monday, all eyes are on the terror outfit and its movements.
France Gas Factory Attack
An attacker with suspected ties to French Islamic radicals rammed a car into a gas factory on Friday in southeastern France, and a severed head was staked on a post at the entrance, officials said.
France immediately opened a terrorism investigation. Two people were injured, authorities said.
“There is no doubt about the intention — to cause an explosion,” French President Francois Hollande said, calling the attack “of a terrorist nature.”
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said a man who had been flagged in 2006 for suspected ties to extremists was seized by an alert firefighter, one of the multiple people in custody after the attack.
Cazeneuve said the suspect had been known to intelligence services, who had him under surveillance from 2006-08. The man is from the Lyon region, he said.
The severed head found staked on the factory’s entrance, is akin to the Islamic State group’s practice of beheading prisoners and displaying their heads for all to see. An official said two flags — one white and one black, both with Arabic inscriptions — were found nearby.
Kuwait Mosque Explosion
The official Kuwait News Agency reported that an explosion struck the Imam Sadiq Mosque, which is located in the neighborhood of al-Sawabir in Kuwait.
The agency confirmed that there were multiple casualties and injuries, but did not provide any figures. Paramedics at the mosque say at least two people were killed.
Witnesses said the explosion took place just after midday Friday prayers. No one has claimed responsibility yet, but ISIS has owned bombings at two other Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia.
Gunbattle at Tunisia Tourist Resort
Gunfire broke out on a beach in a tourist resort in Tunisia on Friday, causing an unknown number of deaths, state television reported.
The shooting happened in front of a hotel in El Kantaoui in central Tunisia, it said. Further details were not immediately available.
(With inputs from agencies)
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