8th October, 2019
French President Emmanuel Macron promised an “unflagging fight’’ against Islamist terrorism on Tuesday at the memorial service of a police officer killed in Paris stabbing attack last week.
“Not only French institutions but also French society as a whole need to contribute to the effort, he said at police headquarters. The entire nation must mobilise and confront the Islamist Hydra,” Macron said, referring to a multi-headed serpentine water monster in Greek mythology.
A Paris police headquarters employee killed four colleagues in a knife rampage earlier this month.
Evidence released by police points to the possible terrorist motive for the crimes.
The 45-year-old suspect had converted to Islam a decade ago and had contact with suspected members of the ultra-conservative Islamic Salafist movement.
France faced a wave of Islamist attacks, mostly claimed by the Islamic State extremist group, in 2015 and 2016, with more than 230 victims. There have been a series of smaller attacks since then. The police and army have repeatedly been targeted.