Suspect had 'no criminal record' but was flagged in 2006 as 'possibly radicalized' by French intelligence services, says Interior Minister
At least one person has been killed and two injured in an attack on an industrial-gas factory, owned by U.S. company Air Products, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, in the French southeastern department of Isere, said French President Francois Hollande Friday.
Reports say the attacker forced his way to the factory at around 10.00 a.m. local time (0800GMT) with a car causing an explosion.
Hollande confirmed the attack was "of a terrorist nature".
- High alert
"The attacker drove into the gas canisters without a doubt to provoke an explosion," Hollande said. "One person was driving the car and was perhaps accompanied by another."
Speaking to press after an emergency defense meeting in Paris, Hollande announced the Vigipirate security alert -- the highest level security alert in France -- will be raised at the Rhone-Alpes region for the next three days.
France is already under the Vigipirate alert since January 2015 following two deadly attacks against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo headquarters and a Kosher store, leaving 17 people dead.
Hollande said a suspect had been arrested and had been identified. Sensitive sites near the location of the attack have had their security reinforced, he added.
Hollande also confirmed earlier police reports saying a victim had been decapitated.
"This attack has left a victim, a man of 50 years old, cowardly murdered," he said.
French newspaper Le Figaro had reported earlier that decapitated head of a victim had been found hanging on the fence of the company grounds. Hollande said the head had inscriptions on it.
Le Figaro identified the victim as a business owner and the employer of the suspect.
- Suspect arrested
The suspected attacker was identified by the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve as Yassin Salhi, known to French intelligence services due to alleged links with Salafist movements.
Salhi, a 35-year-old man from Saint-Priest, the fourth biggest suburb of Lyon, is a father of 3 and works as a delivery man.
According to Cazeneuve, the attacker had "no criminal record" but had been flagged in 2006 as "possibly radicalized". The file was not "renewed in 2008". He "was not identified as a risk," said Cazeneuve.
He added "others who may have been involved" were taken into custody, including the suspect's wife.
Speaking to radio Europe 1 before her arrest, the suspect's wife expressed her surprise at what happened. "My heart is going to stop. I do not know what happened. Have they arrested him?" she asked.
"He went to work this morning at 7 a.m. He does deliveries. He did not return between noon and two, as usual," she continued. The wife said they "have a normal family life. He goes to work, he comes back."
Since access to the facility is restricted because it contains dangerous substances, according to Le Figaro, the suspect used the clearance of the company he works for (a supplier to the gas factory) to enter.
The Air Products company said in a statement that security has been increased at its locations around the world as a precautionary measure, and that all individuals working at the site have been evacuated.
The Paris anti-terrorist prosecutor has launched an investigation into the attack, according to a statement from the capital's High Court.
- Tunisia and Kuwait terrorist attacks
The French President has spoken on phone with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi following a fatal terrorist attack in Sousse, east Tunisia.
The attack left at least 27 people dead, including foreigners, and injured six others on Friday, according to the Tunisian Interior Minister spokesman.
"The two presidents expressed their solidarity against terrorism and their intention to continue and intensify their cooperation in the fight against this scourge," read a statement issued by Hollande's office.
In Kuwait, twenty-five people were killed and 202 were injured in a suicide bombing targeting a Shia mosque in the Kuwaiti capital during Friday prayers.
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Anne Brasseur condemned the three attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait.
"I am deeply shocked at today’s wave of terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait which I condemn, on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, in the strongest possible terms," Brasseur said.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameroon condemned the attacks on Friday. "I am sickened by the attacks in Tunisia, France and Kuwait," Cameron tweeted. "Our countries stand together in combating the horrors of terrorism."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also condemned the attack in France, saying it is a challenge to the fight against radical terrorism.
Merkel, addressing a press conference after meeting with European leaders, voiced sympathy to the victims of the attack.
Thomas de Maiziere, Federal Minister of the Interior, has meanwhile stressed Germany's "sincere" support for "French friends".
He said there was no guarantee that such an attack would not take place in Germany as well.
Anadolu Agency