Indonesia Condemns Nice Terror Attack

Jakarta, 11 Syawal 1437/16 Juli 2016 (MINA) – The Indonesian government on Friday strongly denounced terror attack in Nice , France, leaving at least 80 people killed and hundreds of others injured.

“The government condemns the attack and expressed sympathy for the relatives of the victims,” Antara reported, quoting the Foreign Ministry office.

The attack was launched on Friday morning with a truck loaded with explosive driven to the middle of a crowd of people celebrating “Bastille Day” in the southern France city.

The authorities said at least 80 people were killed and hundreds were injured in the attack.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has asked the Indonesian Consulate in Marseille, to see about possible Indonesians among the victims.

The consulate general said so far it found no Indonesian falling victim in the attacks.

The identity of assailant

Meanwhile, KUNA reported from Paris that the identity of the truck driver who rampaged on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais, killing 84 people and wounding a revised figure of over 200, has been firmly established, France’s Chief Prosecutor Francois Molins said Friday.

The assailant was named as Mohammad Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian who had a minor criminal record but was not on terrorist watch by security services. He had earlier been identified as a Franco-Tunisian, an error corrected by Molins.

Bouhlel, a delivery man by trade, was “totally unknown to intelligence services, as much at local as at national level,” Molins said in a press statement.

The Prosecutor gave an update on the casualties after Thursday’s attack, saying the death toll remained at 84 Friday afternoon, but he seriously revised the number of injured upward to above 200 from earlier estimates of around 100.

Of the injured, Molins said, 52 are in critical condition and 25 are fighting for their lives in intensive care. He revealed that 10 of those killed in the attack were children.  (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)