France Warns of More Attacks after Man Decapitated

Local Editor

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned Saturday that France faced more attacks to come after a grisly killing in which a suspected extremist pinned the severed head of his boss to the gates of a gas factory.

The assailant also caused an explosion by smashing his vehicle into the Air Products factory near France's second city of Lyon.

The grisly killing came on the same day as two other attacks claimed by "ISIL", which left 38 people dead at a beach resort in Tunisia and 27 in a suicide bombing in Kuwait.

Valls said Friday's attack would create tension in France - home to Western Europe's largest Muslim population - that "will be exploited".

"It's difficult for a society to live for years under the threat of attack," he said on a flight back from Bogota, adding: "The question is not... if there will be another attack, but when."

This is the first time someone in France has been found beheaded by a suspected extremist, a method of killing that has become a trademark of the terrorist "ISIL" group.
It also came nearly six months after the attacks in and around Paris that left 17 people dead.

Speaking in Brussels after cutting short an EU summit, French President Francois Hollande labelled the factory beheading "a terrorist attack," adding that "the intent was without doubt to cause an explosion".

Salhi had been known to security services for a number of years but did not have a criminal record, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

He had been investigated for links to radical extremist but had never been identified as planning an attack.

A co-worker described him as "a wolf in sheep's clothing" to RTL radio, adding that Salhi had spoken to him about "ISIL" - "not to try recruit me for anything but simply to ask my opinion".

Sources close to the investigation said the victim of the attack ran the delivery company that employed Salhi.
Molins said Salhi, his wife, sister and another man had been taken into custody.

The second man is being investigated on terrorism-related charges but his link to the attack is not clear, and Molins said there was no indication that Salhi had an accomplice with him during the assault.

A woman identified as Salhi's wife told French radio: "On the news they are saying that it's a terrorist attack, but that's impossible. I know him, he's my husband. We have a normal family life."

Hollande ordered security tightened to the highest possible level in the region ahead of a second emergency meeting of key ministers due to be held on Saturday.

For months, Europe has been on high alert for so-called "lone wolf" attacks by supporters of "ISIL", which has urged its followers to strike wherever they can.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team