Georges Gobet, AFP | Police stand on the site where a the driver of a van ploughed into a Christmas market injuring at least ten people before stabbing himself in the western French city of Nantes

A man driving a van ploughed into a crowd strolling through a Christmas market in the western French city of Nantes on Monday evening, injuring 10 people before stabbing hismelf repeatedly. One person later died of injuries sustained in the attack.

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It was the third attack in three days by individuals against civilians or security forces in France, sparking fears of possible copycat action.

Five people suffered serious injuries in Nantes, including the driver. President François Hollande announced on Tuesday that one person had died of injuries sustained in the attack.

Video images on French television showed a white Peugeot van in the Christmas market, held in a popular square in the centre of the city.

A spokesperson for the interior ministry said the driver “stabbed himself several times with a knife after having ploughed into pedestrians”.

Brigitte Lamy, a prosecutor for the city of Nantes, told reporters at the scene there was no reason to believe the incident was an act of terrorism, adding that there had been no “religious claim”.

Lamy dismissed local media reports that the driver shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest” in Arabic) as he rammed the market.

The driver, a man believed to be in his 40s, has had previous run-ins with the police for minor offenses, according to Lamy. She gave little clues as to the suspect’s motives, calling the incident an “isolated act”.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was due in Nantes later in the evening, while a cabinet meeting has been called in Paris for Tuesday morning.

'Vigilance'

The incident came a day after a man shouting "Allahu Akbar" ran his car into pedestrians in the eastern city of Dijon, injuring 13.

The driver in that case had a history of severe mental illness, prosecutors said, while ruling it out as a “terrorist act”.

In a separate incident on Saturday, police in central France shot dead a man who used the same Arabic phrase as he attacked them with a knife. The assailant, Burundi-born French national Bertrand Nzohabonayo, seriously injured two officers – slashing one in the face – and wounded another before being shot dead.

On Monday Burundi authorities said they had arrested his brother Brice in the capital, Bujumbura, according to FRANCE 24’s sister station Radio France Internationale (RFI).

The anti-terror branch of the Paris prosecutor's office has opened a probe into the attack, with the line of inquiry focusing on whether it was motivated by radical Islam.

The string of incidents in France come as governments around the world brace for so-called "lone wolf" attacks by individuals returning from waging jihad abroad or simply motivated by calls to hit Western targets.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called Tuesday for "vigilance" after the three attacks.

He told Europe 1 radio there was "no link" between the car incidents in Dijon and Nantes, which appeared to have been committed by people with psychological problems.

"The best response is to continue to live peacefully with the necessary vigilance of course," he said.

Valls was due to meet with several ministers on Tuesday morning to ascertain what measures to take "if they are necessary".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, REUTERS)





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