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Attack, Explosion At Gas Factory In Southeastern France Leaves 1 Dead

PARIS (AP) — France opened a terrorism investigation after an attack at a gas factory Friday left one person decapitated and multiple people wounded, officials said. One official said banners with Arabic writing were found near the body.

Two French officials said the attack began mid-morning when two men crashed a car into the entrance of a gas factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier in southeastern France, hitting gas canisters and touching off an explosion.

One of the attackers was arrested, they said. It was unclear what happened to the other attacker.

The decapitated body and banners with Arabic inscriptions were found near the factory entrance, one of the officials said.

Both officials spoke condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.

In a statement, France's anti-terror prosecutor said an investigation was opened into the attack, which he said was carried out by "a terrorist group."

France went on high alert after an attack in January that left 20 people dead in the Paris region, including the Islamic extremist attackers.

Lord Jim wrote:

Attack, Explosion At Gas Factory In Southeastern France Leaves 1 Dead
... One of the attackers was arrested, they said. It was unclear what happened to the other attacker...

Terror attacks rock France, Tunisia and Kuwait

Three terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait killed more than 50 people and left many more injured on Friday, in a spate of assault that appeared linked with Islamic radicals.

The bloodiest was in Tunisia, authorities reported that as many as 28 people had been killed when gunmen attacked two tourist hotels in the resort town of Sousse. They opened fire on the beach, causing chaos as holidaymakers tried to flee the bloodshed, according to media reports. It was the second mass attack this year; Islamist gunmen attacked tourists at a Tunis museum in March, killing 21.

In Kuwait, a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, killing at least 25; militants from the Islamic State claimed credit for the attack.

In France, two men carrying the black flag of the Islamic State took part in a attack on an American-owned gas canister factory in the south-east of the country. In a particularly grisly note, a decapitated head covered with Arabic script was attached to the Air Products factory fence. The man’s body was found several meters away.

A Welsh tourist was shot three times during a terrorist attack on a Tunisian beach, using his body as a human shield, his fiancee has said.

Saera Wilson said gas engineer Matthew James, 30, from Trehafod, near Pontypridd, was trying to protect her when the gunmen opened fire. Ms Wilson, 26, said Mr James was hit in the shoulder, chest and hip.
At least 37 people, including five Britons, have been killed in the attack in the town of Sousse. Speaking from the hospital where Mr James, known as Sas, is being treated, Ms Wilson said: "He took a bullet for me. I owe him my life because he threw himself in front of me when the shooting started. "He was covered in blood from the shots, but he just told me to run away. "He told me: 'I love you babe. But just go - tell our children that their daddy loves them'.

"It was the bravest thing I've ever known. But I just had to leave him under the sunbed because the shooting just kept on coming. "I ran back, past bodies on the beach to reach our hotel. It was chaos - there was a body in the hotel pool and it was just full of blood.

"You just can't explain how terrible it was. It was chaos with screaming and gunshots. I'm just so glad Matthew is alive because so many other people are dead."

The death toll of Britons killed in the Tunisian gun attack will double to at least 30 once identification of victims is complete, the BBC understands.

The Queen sent her "sincere condolences" to victims' families, saying she was "shocked" at the attack. Meanwhile, relatives of those who are injured or still missing anxiously await news of their loved ones. A total of 38 people were killed when a man with links to the Islamic State group opened fire near Sousse. Tunisian officials have said they are certain 23-year-old Seifeddine Rezgui had help in carrying out the attack. The identification of British victims is taking time because of stringent Tunisian regulations, the BBC has been told.

A senior government source said the coroner in Sousse requires medical or dental records in order to complete the formal identification process. Home Secretary Theresa May suggested officials were having difficulty identifying the British victims as many were not carrying identification and because the injured were being moved between hospitals. She said "every effort" was being made to ensure families were getting information that was "100% correct".

A survivor of the massacre in Tunisia has revealed local hotel staff members formed a human shield on the beach in a heroic bid to protect tourists from the rampaging gunman.

John Yeoman, 46, said Muslim staff members from the Bellevue Hotel told the gunman he would have to kill them first as they formed a human barricade between the shooter and Western tourists.

The chain of bodies can be seen in images taken of killer Seifeddine Rezgui which emerged yesterday - about a dozen men stand side-by-side as the gunman, pictured in the foreground, marches away from them carrying his Kalashnikov.

It is just one of many incredible tales of survival to emerge in the aftermath of the deadly attack in which British survivors have described playing dead as Rezgui 'executed' wounded tourists.

He told MailOnline staff formed a shield and started yelling at the gunman: 'You must kill us first.'

The gunman, who openly declared he was targeting Western tourists during the killing spree, was also told: 'You will have to get past us, but we're Muslim.

'Basically, the staff put themselves in the way,' he said. 'The staff from the Bellevue were amazing, really good.

Terror group ISIS has marked one year since the establishment of its self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate in the territory of Iraq and Syria. The militants marked the occasion by calling for more jihadist attacks during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, claiming that allah will reward jihadists who die with "10 times as much" during the period.

"ISIS' Ramadan message specifically preaches that jihad is 10 times more obligatory during Ramadan and that those who die in jihad will be rewarded by allah 10 times as much as during the rest of the year," said Ryan Mauro, national security analyst and adjunct professor of Homeland Security for the Clarion Project, according to Fox News.

A national minute's silence will be held to remember victims of the Tunisian beach attack, David Cameron has announced.



The silence will take place on Friday 3 July at 12:00 BST, a week after the shooting which killed 38 people. No 10 also confirmed the official UK death toll stands at 18, but it is expected to rise to around 30. All Britons injured in the attack in Sousse will be returned to the UK within 24 hours, Downing Street said. In a speech to the Commons, following a minute's silence held by MPs, the prime minister described the attack as "brutal and sickening".

He confirmed the gunman was thought to have been part of a network inspired by militants from Islamic State (IS). He said there was a team of British consular staff on the ground within hours of the attack, and a team of 50 people were currently in Tunisia helping British victims and their families. "This is not the war between Islam and the West, which Isil [also known as Islamic State] want people to believe," he said. "It is a generational struggle between a minority of extremists, who want hatred to flourish and the rest of us who want freedom to prosper. And together, we will prevail.

"Here in the UK, the threat level remains severe, meaning a terrorist attack is highly likely. But until we have defeated this threat, we must resolve as a country to carry on living our lives alongside." The prime minister told the house that "four or five" terror plots had been prevented in the UK in the last few months. US President Barack Obama offered his condolences in a phone call to Mr Cameron. A Number 10 spokesperson said they also discussed the importance of working together to tackle the threat posed by Islamist extremism.