the headlines this hour a knife attack at a church in the french city of nice leaves 3 dead and several injured places mayor says his city has once again become the victim of islamic fascism. it will bring in this new tragedy today we see victims of islamofascism which i repeatedly denounced. another assault is reported in the city of avignon where a man was shot dead during an attack on police officers this all comes 2 weeks since the beheading of a teacher near parrish who had shown his class cartoons of the prophet mohammed one in saudi arabia a man arrested after attacking a security guard there at the french com should.

go there good afternoon just gone for cock in moscow are you watching r.t. international and we start with breaking news this hour from france because 3 people are dead following a knife attack in the southern city of nice. ok let's bring in our correspondent in paris certain talk more about this. good afternoon charlotte just bring us up to speed then on the violence on the story.

well the attack level in france has been raised in the last few hours to attack a level meaning france thinks it could be subject to other attacks following what's happened in nice where 3 people were killed inside a church inside not a silica in the heart of the city of nice present mark warner has arrived on the site to see what's happening and to offer his condolences 3 people dead including one we understand who was beheaded in an attack that has shocking reminiscent of that attack on the history teacher said patty less than 2 weeks ago 2 others also killed in that attack we are not exactly sure of the details of what happened to them but they do understand that it was a mass stabbing that took place inside the church now the merest niece has been talking out about what's happened he's described this as

a terror attack. in this new tragedy today we see victims of islamofascism which i repeatedly denounced. well the. prison prosecution has taken over the investigation into what unfolded in nice and we are waiting for further developments from them to see whether they are officially considering this to be a terror attack but all suggestions would show that that is exactly what it is it has the hallmarks of islamist attacks including when the perpetrator was apprehended by the police he apparently screamed out. several times that is god is the greatest the french prime minister has been paying his own condolences. this act which is barbarian as it is cowardly has plunged the entire nation into mourning the government has just raised its terror alert level throughout the

country. there's been reaction as well from opposition politicians who are questioning what's happened in nice some of the strongest came from the leader of the national rally in marine le pen. the dramatic acceleration of islamist erik's who are against our fellow citizens in our country demands from our leaders a comprehensive response aimed at the red occasion of islamism from our soil. or she did of course offer her condolences to the families of the victims of that brutal attack in the heart of niece on thursday morning and that's also been the thoughts and condolences from many of the people now of course this attack happened in a catholic church and the vatican has been speaking out about this recently suggesting that they condemn this attack and also has said that terrorism and violence is never acceptable. and this does come to you doesn't it charlotte is

a very tense time for friends. yes france at the moment is only the edge of a knife with anger spilling out in muslim majority countries this comes after president matt going to friend did the right to publish and choose controversial cartoons of the muslim prophet mohammed in civics lessons such as after the beheading of 7 patty and also to be published in french magazines and in its newspapers let's take a quick reminder now of what's unfolded in the last 2 weeks. on the answer to one of our competitors was murdered because he taught our competitor it was the victim of an islamist terror attack.

and this is the concern person of russian nationality and of chechen origin benefited from a refugee status and lived in the year that he was not known to the intelligence services on a judicial level he's never to be convicted the laws known for cases in damaging public property and gang violence while still a minor. he asked muslim children to raise their hand and leave the classroom he did it my son told me he didn't do it to discriminate or to hurt he did it to preserve the children to not shield them he explains i'd prefer if you left because i'm going to show a cartoon of the prophet of islam i don't want to shock you. i'm

even more shocked that this college is one i opened when i was the town mayor working there was nice and it was located in a neighborhood without any problems or violence i don't think this act of terror is a crazy man city but a premeditated act. well following comments by president that france would not step back from showing these controversial cartoons there has been this out spilling of anger in many muslim majority countries with protests in bangladesh in jordan libya and in other countries there's also been a call for a boycott of french products and we've heard the turkish president who is essentially led the charge saying the president needed to have his mental health check all of this comes as the director general of the national police in france

has been urging for the last few days for additional vigilance in the wake of what's happening this anti french sentiment he indeed said to people that they needed to be extra vigilant particularly around places such as religious sites which of course is church and this is. ok thank you charlotte mr sharp have been skipped. we can talk now to chris phillips he's a former head of the national counterterrorism security office responsible for the u.k. places strategy he joins us this afternoon thank you very much for time thanks for coming on. how do you see these latest string of attacks crist you view them as isolated cases or are you more inclined to think these are perhaps a coordinated wave of terrorism. i think it's almost certainly isolated in as much as individual. the courts there's a long held beliefs that. it's.

oh. oh oh oh you know i says come on others on how to do. this is a long term issue a long time ago on. the mayor of nice has described today's attack as islamic fascism she think is justified in using such words. well it's an interesting i mean the it's extreme. but i willing to go beyond. what incredible i do believe that france and the west the a lot of this on themselves because they invited people to come to there and they. know who know all protest but. it.

isn't a very difficult i mean when people arrive in the country maybe they've claimed asylum as we saw or i think in the batting of the french teacher just a few days ago it's very difficult to to look at such a person say oh no we think you can commit terrorism at a future date i mean how could you canter that oh well it's pretty much impossible . but so but most western countries wanted almost impossible. a country who are afraid anyway we've got 20 you go to a 1000 concerned in the u.k. some of those will be all and many will be born overseas rights of probably got far more than that and you go to meet massive. well we know that the terror threat level now is at its highest in france presumably i mean you can take from that they do expect

a very high chance of more attacks to come but what can be done to prevent that i mean if you're a member of the public you must be pretty worried have at home in france well that is about to go to look down as well and let's not forget that. a lot of the terrorism terrorism. course people are going to look at again so it's all comes out really. but. the u.k. next. and really gracious has been a lot actually understand what could happen and have a bit of an action. what. can they do any more the authorities do you think we've seen them try to close down mosque close down muslim associations trying to target people that they were suspected of perhaps committing terrorism can anything

more be done. you go who are in the middle of life and it's quite surprising that. we would pull themselves moderates to actually see the cartoon oh that actually been extremely offensive and. yet the idea of taking revenge so. really all. this while it was due course. and on the issue just of freedom of speech as a police officer as former police officer would you be worried when you see this it would you be worried when you see charlie hebdo continuing to do or even ramp up what it's doing knowing that that would just potentially incite more crime as bad and as horrific as it would be and everybody would condemn it. well we must reach

is. actually not freedom. freedom. but you can say pretty much anything you want there are so. where you draw that line and of course. he. would see that he. is really bad or should be out or whether it's a population of. people out and of course the police are stuck in the middle of this. own terms looking for the long term here chris in terms of integration i mean the majority of the muslim population are just as horrified seeing these images that we've seen today as everybody else but it always seems to come back to the are where you know we can't integrating different religions to different communities blah blah blah from your experience of policing is it really

that difficult to integrate communities of different cultures well i think when people come to go to. their own little. generally. in their own areas and likewise others when they when they go abroad so that's generally not a problem that that brings you to violence but when the cultures commish so much as . it clashes so great and leading to this kind of violence while at some stage is going to make some decisions whether it's. that that goes on ok chris always good to talk chaps chris phillips former head of the national counterterrorism security office responsible for the u.k. crowded places strategy appreciate your time thank you. well just to quickly recap what we know about that knife attack in french city it happened early today 3 people are not confirmed dead several more have been injured police have arrested

a suspect we're looking at some of the like this picture be perceived from the scene there in a somewhat have more details more reaction just after these. you

know we dealing with a global pandemic in the vial type infecting people 'd causing chaos and mayhem but that small change compared to the mind virus bit coy. computer communication mental and human communication 3 d. does a lot of thing better than we do so the possibility not just being restricted with brines we've gone with the fine art a number of drawings but even today even just combining true human brains to go. to millions of other advantages. is you'll

media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation community. are you going the right way or are you being led. away. what is true what is faith. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or remain in the shallows. welcome back you're watching r.t. international now let's just give you a recap then of what we know so far about the knife attack in the syria today 3

people have been confirmed dead and several more were left injured the incident took place early in the morning inside a church in the city center and authorities do say that a suspect has been arrested president macron has now arrived in the east following the attack another incident 2 we are hearing has taken place in the city of avignon or a man was shot dead during an attack on police officers while allegedly shouting god is great in arabic meanwhile france's terror threat is being raised to its maximum level that's what we know so for far of course we'll bring you updates as we get them. now in addition to all of that a stabbing attack is also being reported today at the french consulate in the saudi city of jeddah a man was arrested after attacking a security guard official said that the guards life is no longer in danger however they called on saudi authorities to ensure the safety of french people in the

country. while to discuss more about today's events our correspondent joins me in the studio hello again more to add look today's attack in eastern come 2 weeks isn't it after the beheading of a teacher in paris paris suburb what's the relevance many people are trying to connect these 2. is that relevant at this stage what it is police will look at this with many many of the tax that of taken place in france in recent years the they can be traced back to. do but but the point the point here is that france. is weary of these there have been so many terrorist attacks the frog is desperate to do something to end this and that desperation is has come out in the in the words of the french president who's very harsh in his

condemnation of the murder of the french teacher for example look since 20152050 the attack on charlie charlie abdu headquarters 12 dead later that year the paris attacks more than a 100 people killed 2060 in the truck attack nice people killed there 2718 share shooting stabbings rams 2900 nother attack in a police station and now 3 in the span of 2 weeks 3 attacks in the span of 2 weeks the murder and beheading of the french teacher and now 2 attacks today something must be done that that is the sense of france or all the protests what the interior ministry what the president has been saying and as i said president marcos himself he chooses words and his words were very harsh. but samuel was murdered for the very reason that he embodied the values of the french republic he was killed because islamists want to destroy our future and with silent

heroes like simultaneity they will not prevail samuel was a victim of lies a conspiracy theory of the hatred of others of what we are on friday he became the face of the republic and our desire to break down terrorist networks islamicists to live local community and free citizens existence he was talking about samuel patty there what did french authorities did and specifically in response to that murder well even response to that there was there was a again a very heavy handed reaction from french authorities they went after various and jews which they deemed unwanted radical all extremist including the collective against islam a phobia in france which is considered a somewhat mainstream and you 15 jews shut down for being too too radical there were there was also more than $100.00 people who are either arrested or are

now waiting for did deportation from from france being kicked out of the country these are foreign nationals so france is is going after islam it's those that believe that islam is very firmly now in a very harsh manner intended to convey perhaps to the population to the french people that something is is now being done that this will be tolerated anymore and judging by the french president's words used you know he seems to have through mediation to the winds he seems to have taken a very harsh position with regards to this to this fight and they're calling it now they're calling it now a war whether it's a hot war a cold war is you know at this point it doesn't matter what matters is that we're now seeing. very very concrete action and this follows as a i mentioned many years of terrorist attacks in the weariness among the french

a lack of you know there's no more patience left for attacks like these but certainly what's come out of french authorities has provoked a reaction to you hasn't it from muslim countries eat halves because well there's there's 2 separate reactions that the 1st reaction is what we've seen what we've heard today and that has been condemnation of these latest attacks even turkey which which you know isn't in the friendliest of terms with france even they've come out and they said that there is no excuse there is no explanation for murdering people near a church for killing civilians for beheading people there is simply no explanation the other reaction that we've seen across the muslim world from northern africa all the way to the south southeast asia and that has been agger anger towards the french because many muslim people many muslim leaders see france as darkness is

going too far their words you know the saying that france is not propagating islamophobia that this is god beyond a fight with extremists this is this is turning into a war against islam obviously the majority vast majority of muslim people want want nothing to do with these killings or beheadings they neither condone them nor support them nevertheless there has been a sense among muslims that france is going out of its way to sort of go after muslims we've seen tens of thousands of people protest in saudi arabia in the iran across asia north africa people calling for a boycott boycott of french goods but we've also seen. various muslim countries that are good friends either saudi arabia for example saudi arabia and. iran then acting in concert in iran summoning the french ambassador to explain his presence words even even turkey as i mentioned all the previous terms

with the front has been very harsh on macro. macro needs mental health treatment what else can be said to a head of state who does not understand freedom of belief and who behaves in this way to millions of people living in his country who are members of a different faith muslims are the primary victims of the cult of hatred empowered by colonial regimes and exported by their own clients insulting 1100000000 muslims and their sanctities for the apparent crimes of such extremists is not you know stick abuse of freedom of speech it only fuels extremism the recent statements that the leadership level and is the dence of this a creation of the holy qur'an a reflection of this increasing islamophobia that is spreading in european countries we must explain to the western world the value systems differ for different social and religious and ethnic groups in the world. look this is this is

something that they simply can't agree and we have we have 2 sides here we have muslims who are just asking please just don't insult the prophet just don't insult the prophet you can say whatever you want whatever outs just leave the prophet out of it and we have the other side the secular part the part that says you know nothing is too hooey to touch we have these caricature these cartoons and judging by some of the descriptions. of the of these cartoons that the the intent of the mystery is to shock the dead as the shock the authors behind them say this is just an expression of freedom of speech and shouldn't concern you if you don't like it well the just just go along with life you know carry on with life and ignore them there's no need to to kill people over something you don't like and there is this divide between the muslims and people who profess that this support for freedom of speech and they simply can't agree on how to how to go forward how to go forward

with this nevertheless as i mentioned earlier many many of these attacks that have happened in france can be traced back to shirley abdul the cartoons it is an ongoing it hasn't ended and it would end anytime soon it is an ongoing you know open source lupin room in relations between the islamic world and in france and. after almost a decade almost a decade of these cartoons warning you can you can't you can't describe in any other way and provoking this violence while the there doesn't seem to be a way forward certainly not at the moment thank you that was r.t. . and we'll continue our coverage of the knife attack in the french city of nice just after this break.

computer communicate better than human communication does a lot of thing better than we do so the possibility not just being restricted with the brains we go with the fine art number of drawings but even to even just combining true human rhymes together. i mean somebody has a lot of the advantages. of. the maternity town the slums go in and you may never get out of. my teenage gang rules here because i didn't want to move then let the my neighborhood. but. the navy will be.

minus. 0. and now it's looking for the yeah. and melanie when. you're in the monkey little police all i see. is you'll media a reflection of reality. in a world transformed. what will make you feel safe. isolation whole community. are you going the right way or are you being

led. by. what is. what is. in the world corrupted you need to descend. to join us in the depths. or a made of the shallows. again you're watching r t international now that sir just give you a recap then what we know so far about the knife attack in the french city of nice earlier today 3 people are confirmed dead and several more have been left injured the incident took place early in the morning inside a church in the city center and authorities do say a suspect has been a.