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Nice attacker's movements studied as police make more arrests Nice attacker sent text message about weapons supply – police
(about 3 hours later)
French investigators are looking at the level of preparation undertaken by a Tunisian delivery driver who killed 84 people on Thursday when he drove a truck at high speed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in Nice. The Tunisian delivery driver who killed 84 people when he drove a truck into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in Nice on Thursday sent a text message just before the attack about his supply of weapons.
Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was pictured by CCTV cameras on Nice’s seafront Promenade des Anglais twice in the two days before the attack, it has emerged. He had been seen driving in the area, presumably examining the spot in preparation, French media reported. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, wrote of his “satisfaction at having obtained a 7.65mm pistol” and discussed the supply of other weapons, a police source confirmed to the news agency AFP. A pistol, two replica assault rifles and a dummy grenade were found in the truck.
He sold his car and emptied his bank account shortly before the attack, the French news channel iTele reported.
French police arrested a man and a woman with ties to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel on Sunday. Four other people were already in custody being questioned as detectives try to find out more about the killer, 31, who was described as “a soldier” on Saturday by Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
Related: Police and academics search Nice attacker’s history for a motiveRelated: Police and academics search Nice attacker’s history for a motive
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s estranged wife and mother of his three children, who had also been the victim of his domestic violence, has been released from police questioning. She was not a suspect in the attack but was questioned about Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. It also emerged that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel took pictures of himself at the wheel of the truck before the attack and shared them by text message. More than 200 investigators are working on identifying the recipients of the messages.
The “long and painful process” in which families will be able to see their deceased loved ones will begin on Sunday, Juliette Méadel, France’s junior minister for victim aid told RTL radio. Her ministerial post was created earlier this year by François Hollande after families of victims of other attacks, including the Charlie Hebdo massacre and November’s Paris attacks, complained of mistakes, delays and failings in dealing with relatives and passing on information about the identities of the dead. Police are working to establish whether Lahouaiej-Bouhlel – who the French interior minister said had been “radicalised very quickly” and had not been on intelligence files – had been in contact with jihadis, or had accomplices. On Saturday, Islamic State claimed the attack, but there has been no evidence yet linking him to the group.
Following the attack in Nice, 85 people are still in hospital, 18 of them – including one child – in a critical condition, France’s health minister, Marisol Touraine, said. Only one of the dead had yet to be identified. French investigators are also looking at the level of preparation undertaken by Lahouaiej-Bouhlel after it emerged that he was seen by CCTV cameras on Nice’s seafront Promenade des Anglais twice in the two days before the attack.
As the government faces mounting criticism from rightwing opposition groups over its security policy, the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, said new attacks would occur as France faced a long-term issue of terrorism. Six people are being held for questioning over the attack, among them a 38-year-old Albanian who was arrested on Sunday morning on suspicion of supplying the pistol that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel used to shoot at police trying to block his route.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s estranged wife and mother of his three children was released after questioning by police. She was not a suspect in the attack.
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel’s brother Jabeur told Reuters on Sunday that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had phoned home hours before the attack and sent a “laughing” picture from Nice.
“That last day he said he was in Nice with his European friends to celebrate the national holiday,” Jabeur said from Tunisia. In the photograph “he seemed very happy and pleased, he was laughing a lot,” he said. Reuters could not verify the existence of the photograph, which Jabeur declined to share.
Juliette Méadel, France’s junior minister for victim aid told RTL radio that the “long and painful process” in which families were able to see their deceased loved ones was under way. Her ministerial post was created this year by François Hollande after families of victims of other attacks, including the Charlie Hebdo massacre and November’s Paris attacks, complained of mistakes, delays and failings in dealing with relatives and passing on information about the identities of the dead.
Following the attack in Nice, 85 people are still in hospital, 18 of them – including one child – in a critical condition. One of the dead has yet to be identified.
As the government faces mounting criticism from rightwing opposition groups over its security policy, the prime minister, Manuel Valls, said new attacks would occur as France faced a long-term issue of terrorism.
“I’ve always told the truth regarding terrorism: there is an ongoing war, there will be more attacks. It’s difficult to say, but other lives will be lost,” he said, adding that it was important to respect the “state of law”.“I’ve always told the truth regarding terrorism: there is an ongoing war, there will be more attacks. It’s difficult to say, but other lives will be lost,” he said, adding that it was important to respect the “state of law”.
Valls warned against Donald Trump-style proposals such as restricting Muslims’ entry. “The response to Islamic State cannot be the Trump-isation of our state of mind,” he told Le Journal du Dimanche.Valls warned against Donald Trump-style proposals such as restricting Muslims’ entry. “The response to Islamic State cannot be the Trump-isation of our state of mind,” he told Le Journal du Dimanche.
Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister, appealed on Sunday for young volunteers to join security service reserves. “I want to call on all French patriots who wish to do so, to join this operational reserve,” he said. The reserve force is currently made up of 12,000 volunteers aged between 17 and 30.Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister, appealed on Sunday for young volunteers to join security service reserves. “I want to call on all French patriots who wish to do so, to join this operational reserve,” he said. The reserve force is currently made up of 12,000 volunteers aged between 17 and 30.
Related: Hollande’s response to the Nice massacre will please only the far right | Philippe Marlière The Promenade des Anglais reopened on Sunday as people returned to Nice’s beaches and cafes. Police officers had kept watch on Saturday night as tourists returned to the scene of the atrocity, walking past flowers, cards and messages of solidarity left in tribute to the victims.
On Saturday, hours after Isis claimed responsibility for the latest deadly assault on French soil, Cazeneuve had appealed for calm and unity as France reeled from what he called “a new kind of terror attack”. However, no evidence was presented to support the claim that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been acting in Isis’s name.
Cazeneuve said initial indications suggested Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, had been “radicalised very quickly” before the attack.
Although the Tunisian, who held a French residency permit, was known to police through a string of minor fracas over the past six years, the minister confirmed he had not crossed the radar of the intelligence services.
Cazeneuve also noted the carnage on the Promenade des Anglais bore none of the hallmarks of previous attacks such as the assault on the offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery in Paris or the coordinated attacks on Paris last November.
“There were no heavy weapons or explosives used,” he said. “As a result, the trauma induced by this extremely violent crime has deeply shocked the French people and underlined the massive difficulty of the struggle against terrorism.
“We are confronted by individuals who, vulnerable to messages from [Isis], carry out extremely violent acts without necessarily having taken part in combat or received training.”
The Promenade des Anglais reopened on Sunday, as people returned to Nice’s beaches and cafes. Police officers had kept watch on Saturday night as tourists returned to the scene of the atrocity, walking past flowers, cards and messages of solidarity left in tribute to the victims.