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Terrorist Attack in France Leaves One Decapitated at Factory France Terrorist Attack Leaves One Decapitated at Factory
(about 5 hours later)
PARIS — An attacker stormed an American-owned industrial chemical plant near Lyon, France, on Friday, decapitated one person and tried unsuccessfully to blow up the factory, in what the French authorities said was a terrorist attack. SAINT-PRIEST, France — A delivery man who had once been under surveillance by the French authorities for connections to radical Islamist groups drove into an American-owned chemical plant near the southeastern city of Lyon on Friday morning, decapitated his employer and set off an explosion in what the French authorities characterized as a terrorist attack.
The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, identified the suspect who was apprehended after the attack at the plant, operated by Air Products, as Yassine Salhi, who lives in St.-Priest, near Lyon. He had been identified by security sources as having connections to radical Salafists, but surveillance of him was dropped in 2008. The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, identified the suspect, who was apprehended, as Yassine Salhi, who lives in Saint-Priest, a small town outside Lyon.
Mr. Salhi had entered the plant in a vehicle that may have been driven by an accomplice, President François Hollande said, and tried to use gas canisters to set off a bigger explosion. Mr. Hollande did not say whether the accomplice had also been detained. Security sources had identified Mr. Salhi as having connections to radical Salafists, but surveillance on him was dropped in 2008. The reason was not immediately clear, but French intelligence officials have been overwhelmed in recent years as they try to keep tabs on hundreds of young Muslims who have gone abroad to fight jihad with the Islamic State, which has taken over large areas of Syria and Iraq.
“The attack was of a terrorist nature since a body was discovered, decapitated and with inscriptions,” he said. There was no indication that Mr. Salhi was aligned with the Islamic State, but after entering the chemical plant, apparently in an authorized vehicle, he placed the head of his victim atop a gate and hung a flag on either side with the Muslim profession of faith, according to François Molins, the Paris prosecutor investigating the events.
“This attack was a vehicle, driven by a person, maybe accompanied by another, who rammed at great speed into this factory,” Mr. Hollande said. “There is no doubt about the intention, which was to cause an explosion.” After young Frenchmen who professed allegiance to the Islamic State and Al Qaeda killed 17 people in attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and on a Jewish grocery store in Paris in January, the authorities here and elsewhere in Europe have grown increasingly concerned that citizens who have gone abroad to fight jihad will return to stage attacks, or that Muslims who never left for jihad will be inspired to do so by appeals over the Internet.
News reports said Mr. Salhi had waved flags bearing Arabic writing during the assault. Mr. Cazeneuve said flags found at the scene were being evaluated. Mr. Hollande, who cut short his participation in a European Union summit meeting in Brussels to return to Paris, said the episode had all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack. The chemical plant was attacked on the same day that terror attacks killed at least 37 people in Tunisia and at least 25 in Kuwait. There was immediate speculation that they were part of coordinated effort, perhaps orchestrated by the Islamic State, to sow mayhem during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The assault was carried out at a plant in St.-Quentin-Fallavier, southeast of Lyon. Antiterrorism prosecutors in Paris said they had opened an investigation into what they called an “assassination and attempted assassinations in an organized group with a terrorist undertaking.” However, given the work connection between Mr. Salhi and his victim, there may have been several motivations for the attack.
Thierry Gricourt, an insurance adviser who works down the street from the plant, said it was a small explosion. “We heard a noise a little before 10,” he said. “It was not very loud; we did not know it was an explosion.” Mr. Molins said four people had been arrested in all: Mr. Salhi, his wife, his sister and another individual.
The decapitated victim was from near Lyon, Mr. Cazeneuve said. Mr. Salhi had moved to the area only recently, according to his neighbors and his wife, who was reached by telephone by the television channel Europe 1 before the police detained her. She sounded confused and shocked by the news that her husband had been involved in an attack at the local chemical installation, operated by Air Products.
“What did he want to do in this chemical factory?” she asked, adding that he had gone to work as usual that morning. “We are celebrating Ramadan. We have three children and a normal family life.”
Prime Minister Manuel Valls ordered tightened security and “reinforced vigilance” on “sensitive” sites in the region, which is about 300 miles southeast of Paris.Prime Minister Manuel Valls ordered tightened security and “reinforced vigilance” on “sensitive” sites in the region, which is about 300 miles southeast of Paris.
Antiterrorism prosecutors in Paris said they had opened an investigation into what they called an “assassination and attempted assassinations in an organized group with a terrorist undertaking.” President François Hollande said Mr. Salhi had tried to use gas canisters to set off an explosion. However, later information from Mr. Molins, the Paris prosecutor, whose staff had interviewed Air Products employees who were present during the attack, left unclear whether Mr. Salhi had a bomb in his car that exploded and destroyed one of the hangars where chemicals were kept on the site. It did not ignite a larger explosion.
The assault follows the attacks this year on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and on a Jewish grocery store in Paris, and a number of other violent episodes in Europe involving people claiming adherence to radical Islamic groups. Mr. Salhi was caught by firefighters a few minutes later in a second hangar, where he was attempting to open a canister.
“Everybody remembers what happened in our country, and not just in our country,” Mr. Hollande said, adding that it was important not to “give into fear” and to not create “useless divisions.” Mr. Hollande said, “There is no doubt about the intention, which was to cause an explosion.”
“Everybody remembers what happened in our country, and not just in our country,” he said, referring to the attacks at Charlie Hebdo and the kosher grocery. He said it was important not to “give in to fear” and not to create “useless divisions.”
By evening, four police officers were guarding the apartment building where Mr. Salhi lived while investigators were inside searching for clues. Neighbors who were not allowed to re-enter the building during the search congregated outside and talked about the man they described as reserved but normal.
“Honestly, he seemed like a very normal person. A family man who played with kids out here,” said Abdel Baiya, 53, who works at the Edouard Herriot port nearby, pointing to the patch of grass outside the building.
“In the six months that he has been here, I saw him two, three times,” he added. “He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who wanted to meet lots of new people.”
The Lyon area, like most urban centers in France, is home to a large number of Muslims, with the rector of Lyon’s Grand Mosque saying there are between 150,000 and 200,000 in the urban area and dozens of mosques. While a handful of the mosques practice a Salafist form of Islam, which is strict and fundamentalist, the vast majority do not. Another Muslim official in the area said he could count on one hand the number of Salafist mosques.
Mr. Salhi did not attend a mosque in Saint-Priest, said an official at the local Muslim organization, the Association for Peace for All. Another Muslim official said Mr. Salhi went to the Salafist-leaning mosque at Vénissieux, a town whose Muslim community has been noted having more conservative views as well as some residents who have attempted to go to Syria.