France identifies second suspect in church attack

(Baonghean.vn) - A source from the French prosecutor's office said on July 28 that police had identified the second suspect in the attack on a church near the city of Rouen on July 26. This suspect is a 19-year-old man whose name was on the police record for attempting to flee to Syria.

Police near the church in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on July 26. Photo: AP.

According to the source, the suspect named Abdel-Malik Nabil Petitjean, 19 years old, living in a town in eastern France, bordering Germany. He was killed by French police along with Adel Kermiche, 19 years old in the attack on the church in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray on the morning of July 26.

A source from the prosecutor's office added that Petitjean had no previous convictions and that police had no fingerprints or DNA samples from him in their criminal records, which delayed the identification of the suspect.

However, since June 29, French security agencies have opened a special file on Petitjean because he became radicalized and tried to find his way to Syria via Türkiye. The Paris authorities said there were more than 10,000 such radicalized people in the country.

Previously, on July 27, the AMAQ news agency, which is affiliated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), posted a video recording images of two subjects that IS claimed were the perpetrators of the terrorist attack on a church in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, Northern France. These two men swore allegiance to IS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The July 26 church attack was the third in just two weeks in France and Germany by men who have pledged allegiance to IS. The frequent terrorist attacks have heightened anxiety across Europe, especially as more young people are drawn to jihadists and urged to carry out attacks at home.

Lan Ha

(According to AFP)