2014 Dijon attack

Last updated
2014 Dijon attack
Part of Islamic terrorism in Europe
Cote-d'Or-Position.svg
Location of Côte-d’Or within France
Location Dijon, France
Date21 December 2014
Attack type
 Vehicle-ramming attack
Weapons Car
Deaths0
Injured13 (two seriously)

On 21 December 2014, a Muslim man in the French city of Dijon was arrested after a vehicle-ramming attack in which he drove a van into pedestrians in five areas of the city in the space of half an hour. Thirteen people were injured, two of them seriously.

Contents

The alleged perpetrator had a record of mental disorder and no known links with terrorist groups. The local prosecutor said the incident was not linked to terrorism and the Interior Ministry believed that he had acted alone, although anti-terrorism investigators opened an inquiry into the attack. [1]

Attack

In the space of half an hour, the alleged attacker, identified only as Nacer B, drove a Renault Clio van into groups of pedestrians in five separate areas of the city. [2] [3] [1] Thirteen people were injured; two of them sustained serious injuries. [4] The accused allegedly shouted Allahu Akbar, brandished a knife, and claimed that he was "acting on behalf of the children of Palestine." [5] According to Dijon city prosecutor, Marie-Christine Tarrare, the accused had become “very agitated” after watching a television program about the plight of children in Chechnya. [6]

Suspect

The man arrested was reported to be "40-year-old man of Arab origin" and "Algerian and Moroccan descent." [7] [6] He had been known to the police for minor offenses committed over the course of 20 years, and had repeatedly been treated for “serious and long-established psychiatric issues”. [6]

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve described him as "very unstable". The local prosecutor said the incident was not linked to terrorism and the Interior Ministry believed that he had acted alone, although anti-terrorism investigators opened an inquiry into the attack. [1]

The Times described Dijon as a "apparently lone-wolf Islamist attack." [8] The Financial Times described it together with the attacks in Tours and Nantes as "the first Isis-linked attacks in the country." [9] According to The Globe and Mail , this attack was "apparently inspired by a video" circulated by ISIL calling on French Muslims to attack non-Muslims using vehicles. [10] According to David C. Rapoport of the University of California, Los Angeles, these three attacks can be understood in the context of the rise of the Islamic State in Syria. "In September 2014, after the U.S. organized its airstrikes, the Islamic State’s chief spokesman called on Muslims in Western countries to find an infidel and ‘smash his head with a rock’, poison him, run him over with a car or ‘destroy his crops’. Two months later a video released in French contained virtually the same message, and a series of strange 'lone wolf' attacks followed on three consecutive days, the perpetrators declaring “'God is Great' in Arabic. Three policemen were stabbed in Joué-lès-Tours, and vehicles were used to run over eleven pedestrians in Dijon and ten in Nantes." [11] The Financial Times describes the 20 December 2014 Tours police station stabbing, this attack on 21 December, and the 22 December 2014 Nantes attack as "the first Isis-linked attacks" in France. [9]

In his 2017 book, Words Are Weapons: Inside ISIS’s Rhetoric of Terror, Philippe-Joseph Salazar, wrote that "the French government strenuously denied that (this and the 2014 Nantes attack) were terrorist attacks, but terrorist experts dissented, referring to them as examples of a 'low intensity permanent warfare.'" [12] Citing this 2014 Dijon car attack, Mark Silinsky of the United States Army War College describes a view held by "some in the West... that political violence perpetrated by Muslims in the name of Islam is not and cannot be authentically Islamic... In this view, the perpetrators are fueled with a rage unconnected to any religion. Even when perpetrators roar “Allahu Akbar” or bellow praises for the Caliphate, these proclamations are dismissed as empty or misguided rhetoric." [13] In their 2017 article, Is there a Nexus Between Terrorist Involvement and Mental Health in the Age of the Islamic State?, Emily Corner and Paul Gil, describe this attack as example of the "tendency to try to dismiss the possibility of terrorism altogether" in instances where a "confirmed diagnosis" is available. [5]

Context

In his 2017 book Migration, Terrorism, and the Future of a Divided Europe: A Continent Transformed, Christopher Deliso discusses this attack in the context of a series of "terrorist" attacks "carried out by immigrants (and new migrants)" using "very basic but deadly weapons" in Western countries, noting that this particular attack occurred after ISIS released a video calling on Muslims in France to run non-Muslims over "with your cars." [14]

The attack has been described as one of a series of terror attacks on French soil, [9] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [6] [7] as a contemporary example of vehicle ramming as a terrorism tactic, [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] and as one of the many ISIS-inspired lone wolf terrorist attacks worldwide. [25] [26] [9]

Impact

In what The New York Times described as an effort "to reassure a jittery nation" government deployed 300 troops onto French streets "to guard against copycat attacks inspired by" the 20 December 2014 Tours police station stabbing, this attack on 21 December, and the 22 December 2014 Nantes attack on the city's Christmas market in which ten people were injured and one was killed. [27] [6] [2] [28] [29] According to Public Radio International, these three attacks "prompted the French government to step up security at police and fire stations across the country." [30] According to Le Monde, following the series of three attacks police were ordered keep their weapons constantly within reach, even when inside their stations, and to wear their protective vests. [2]

In addition to these immediate responses by the French government, according to CNN security analyst Peter Bergen writing in 2016, this attack was one of a number of Vehicle-ramming attacks that forced police in a number of countries to reconsider methods of protecting crowded public spaces. [24]

According to The Times, this series of three attacks (Dijon, Nantes, Tours) caused Whitehall to move protective measures against "lone volatile extremist(s)" intent on committing vehicle ramming attacks "to the top of the agenda," with a list of recommended measures including bollards, building design, and standards to insure that concrete sets properly. [31]

Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister of France, expressed his "solidarity" with the victims of the attack via Twitter. [1]

Related Research Articles

A lone wolf attack, or lone actor attack, is a particular kind of mass murder, committed in a public setting by an individual who plans and commits the act on their own. In the United States, such attacks are usually committed with firearms. In other countries, knives are sometimes used to commit mass stabbings. Although definitions vary, most databases require a minimum of four victims for the event to be considered a mass murder.

Terrorism in Australia deals with terrorist acts in Australia as well as steps taken by the Australian government to counter the threat of terrorism. In 2004 the Australian government has identified transnational terrorism as also a threat to Australia and to Australian citizens overseas. Australia has experienced acts of modern terrorism since the 1960s, while the federal parliament, since the 1970s, has enacted legislation seeking to target terrorism.

On 22 September 2008, a Palestinian drove a BMW saloon car into a group of civilians and off-duty soldiers in a terrorist ramming attack in Jerusalem, injuring 19 people. Stratfor Global Intelligence analysts say this attack represents a new terrorist tactic which is less lethal but could prove more difficult to prevent than suicide bombing.

The 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack was a combined vehicular assault and stabbing attack which occurred on 29 August 2011 when a Palestinian attacker stole an Israeli taxi cab and rammed it into a police checkpoint guarding the popular nightclub, Haoman 17, in Tel Aviv which was filled with 2,000 Israeli teenagers. After crashing into the checkpoint, the attacker jumped out of the vehicle and began stabbing people. Four civilians, four police officers, and the assailant were injured in the attack. The assailant was living illegally in Israel at the time of the attack.

The 2014 Saint Jean sur Richelieu ramming attack was a terror car ramming that occurred in Quebec on October 20, 2014. Two Canadian Forces members were hit by a lone wolf terrorist, Martin Couture-Rouleau. Warrant officer Patrice Vincent died from injuries, while another soldier was injured, but survived. The RCMP and the Government of Canada has characterized the homicide as a terrorist act by an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant-inspired terrorist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vehicle-ramming attack</span> Form of attack in which a perpetrator rams vehicle into people or structures

A vehicle-ramming attack, also known as a vehicle as a weapon or VAW attack, is an assault in which a perpetrator deliberately rams a vehicle into a building, people, or another vehicle. According to Stratfor Global Intelligence analysts, this attack represents a relatively new militant tactic that could prove more difficult to prevent than suicide bombings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Nantes attack</span> Vehicle ramming attack in Nantes, France

On 22 December 2014, Sébastien Sarron ran over ten pedestrians in his white van at the Christmas market of the French city of Nantes, before attempting suicide by stabbing himself. Ten people, including the suspect, suffered non-fatal injuries. One man, Virgile Porcher, was pronounced clinically dead the following day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">January 2015 Île-de-France attacks</span> Series of terrorist attacks in France

From 7 to 9 January 2015, terrorist attacks occurred across the Île-de-France region, particularly in Paris. Three attackers killed a total of 17 people in four shooting attacks, and police then killed the three assailants. The attacks also wounded 22 other people. A fifth shooting attack did not result in any fatalities. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility and said that the coordinated attacks had been planned for years. The claim of responsibility for the deadly attack on the magazine came in a video showing AQAP commander Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi, with gunmen in the background that were later identified as the Kouachi brothers. However, while authorities say the video is authentic, there is no proof that AQAP helped to carry out the attacks. Amedy Coulibaly, who committed another leg of the attacks claimed that he belonged to ISIS before he died.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Quentin-Fallavier attack</span> 2015 Islamist attack in southeastern France

A terrorist attack took place on 26 June 2015 in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon, France, when a man, Yassin Salhi, decapitated his employer Hervé Cornara and drove his van into gas cylinders at a gas factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near Lyon, France, which caused an explosion that injured two other people. Salhi was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder linked to terrorism. Three other people were questioned by the police but released without charge. Salhi committed suicide at Fleury-Mérogis Prison in December that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domestic terrorism</span> Terrorism committed in a country by its own natives or nationals, without support from abroad

Domestic terrorism or homegrown terrorism is a form of terrorism in which victims "within a country are targeted by a perpetrator with the same citizenship" as the victims. There are various different definitions of terrorism, with no universal agreement about it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Tours police station stabbing</span> 2014 terrorist attack in France

On 20 December 2014, a man in Joué-lès-Tours near the city of Tours in central France entered a police station and attacked officers with a knife, shouting "Allahu Akbar" and injuring three before he was shot and killed. The attack was categorised as a case of religiously inspired terrorism by Europol, and has been reported by Europol as well as mappings by CNN and AFP as inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

In the late evening of January 7, 2016, in a sudden attack with no precipitating event, Edward Archer rushed towards and shot Philadelphia police officer Jesse Hartnett while he drove his patrol car, inserting the gun into the window of the car and firing at point blank range. Despite being shot multiple times in the left arm, Hartnett was able to exit his car and shoot the fleeing suspect. Later in the hospital, Archer claimed he pledged allegiance to ISIS. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated the shooting as a terrorist attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic terrorism in Europe</span> Islamic terrorist attacks and plots in Europe

Islamic terrorism has been carried out in Europe by the jihadist groups Islamic State (ISIL) or Al-Qaeda as well as Islamist lone wolves since the late 20th century. Europol, which releases the annual EU Terrorism Situation and Trend report (TE-SAT), used the term "Islamist terrorism" in reports for the years 2006–2010, "religiously inspired terrorism" for the years 2011–2014, and has used "jihadist terrorism" since then. Europol defines jihadism as "a violent ideology exploiting traditional Islamic concepts".

On 5 October 2016, three police officers were attacked by a man wielding a machete in the Schaerbeek municipality of Brussels, Belgium. Two of them suffered stab wounds, while the third was physically assaulted but otherwise uninjured. The suspected assailant, a Belgian citizen named Hicham Diop, was apprehended and charged with attempted terrorism-related murder and participating in a terrorist group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State affiliated terrorist attacks in France</span> Terrorist attacks in France

ISIL-related terrorist attacks in France refers to the terrorist activity of the Islamic State in France, including attacks committed by Islamic State-inspired lone wolves. The French military operation Opération Sentinelle has been ongoing in France since the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks.

Stabbing attacks, which have been used as a tactic for thousands of years, became an increasingly common form of terrorism targeting random civilians in the 21st century, in particular during the 2010s and 2020s.

The Hanover stabbing that occurred on 26 February 2016 was a terrorist stabbing of a police officer in Hanover, Germany, by a 15-year-old girl born to a Moroccan mother and a German father. She had been raised under the influence of salafist preachings, as early as 7 years. She had been investigated by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution for preparing a serious crime already in 2014 and had traveled to meet ISIS members in Istanbul in November 2015. It was the first reported attack by an ISIS sympathiser in Germany.

On 11 October 2016, a fire was deliberately set at the Malmö Muslim community centre in Malmö, Sweden, which housed a mosque. There were no injuries and only minor damage. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. A Syrian resident of Malmö was arrested, tried and acquitted and the incident was deemed to be arson, but not terrorism. In June 2017, a man was arrested in Germany, accused of working for the ISIS-related news agency, Amaq. Police claim he had contacted the accused before and after this attack in order to report back to Amaq.

On 19 June 2017, a car loaded with guns and explosives was rammed into a convoy of Gendarmerie vehicles on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, France. The driver, identified as Djaziri Adam Lotfi was killed as a detonation clouded the car in orange smoke. The attacker had been on terrorism watchlists for Islamic extremism since 2014, and pledged his allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before the attack. In a letter to his family he stated that for years he had supported "the Mujahedeen who fight to save Islam and the Muslims," having practiced shooting "to prepare for jihad," and stated that the attack should be treated as a "martyrdom operation."

This article covers attacks and activity of terrorism in Belgium.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "France Dijon: Driver targets city pedestrians". BBC News . 21 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 France, Charles (24 December 2014). "France orders troops on streets to halt lone-wolf terror attacks". Times (London). ProQuest   1639888933.
  3. ↑ "France attack: Van driven into shoppers in Nantes". BBC. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Mazzetti, Mark (17 July 2016). "In the Age of ISIS, Who's a Terrorist, and Who's Simply Deranged?". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  5. 1 2 Corner, Emily (January 2017). "Is There a Nexus Between Terrorist Involvement and Mental Health in the Age of the Islamic State?". CTC Sentinel . 10 (1): 1. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Breeden, Aurelien (23 December 2014). "France Puts More Troops on Streets After a String of Attacks". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  7. 1 2 Lichfield, John (23 December 2014). "France 'terrorism': Three 'lone wolf' attacks in three days – so should the country be worried?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "Establishment fears Le Pen will be victor of France's new war". The Times. 8 January 2015. ProQuest   1643103778.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Jones, Sam (15 July 2016). "France emerges as main focus for terrorists". Financial Times. ProQuest   1811254498.
  10. ↑ Martin, Patrick (15 July 2016). "History of lone-wolf vehicle attacks suggests risk of emulation is very real". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  11. ↑ Rapoport, David (2016). "Why Has The Islamic State Changed its Strategy and Mounted the Paris-Brussels Attacks?". Perspectives on Terrorism; Terrorism Research Initiative; University of Leiden. 10 (2). Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  12. ↑ Salazar, Philippe-Joseph (2017). Words Are Weapons: Inside ISIS's Rhetoric of Terror. Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0300231519 . Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  13. ↑ Silinsky, Mark (2016). Jihad and the West: Black Flag over Babylon. Indiana University Press. p. 153. ISBN   978-0253027207..
  14. 1 2 Deliso, Christopher (May 2017). Migration, Terrorism, and the Future of a Divided Europe: A Continent Transformed. ABC-CLIO. p. 75. ISBN   978-1440855252.
  15. ↑ "A timeline of recent mass attacks in France". Deutsche Welle. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  16. ↑ Michaels, Jim (15 July 2016). "Nice attack part of emerging DIY-style terrorism trend". USA Today. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  17. ↑ "IS Urged Vehicle-Ramming Attacks In 2014". Sky News. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  18. ↑ "Terror Attack by Truck Scenario Long Feared by Law Enforcement". KTLA. CNN wire. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  19. ↑ Jamieson, Alastair (20 December 2016). "News Berlin Truck Attack Dec 20 2016, 9:27 am ET Truck Attacks: Low-Tech, Soft Target Terrorism Is Growing Threat". NBC News. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  20. ↑ "Vehicles becoming weapon of choice for extremists: A timeline of recent attacks". CBC News. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  21. ↑ Peritz, Avi (21 December 2016). "Vehicle Attacks Like Berlin's Are Nothing New, And Are Likely To Continue". National Public Radio . Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  22. ↑ "Motorised weapons How terrorists have used vehicles". DailyTelegraph. 8 April 2017. ProQuest   1885127881.
  23. ↑ Callimachi, Rukmini (18 July 2016). "Potent tools of death, on roads worldwide: A mainstay of commerce becomes a weapon in the attack in France". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  24. 1 2 Bergen, Peter (15 July 2016). "Truck attacks -- a frightening tool of terror, with a history". CNN. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  25. ↑ Yourish, Karen (22 March 2016). "Where ISIS Has Directed and Inspired Attacks Around the World". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  26. ↑ Coughlin, Tom (16 July 2016). "Chilling Isis video on how to turn cars into 'mowing machines'". The Times (of London). ProQuest   1804497561.
  27. ↑ "France to deploy soldiers after spate of attacks". BBC News . 23 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  28. ↑ "France steps up patrols after spate of lone-wolf attacks". Reuters. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  29. ↑ Willsher, Kim (24 December 2014). "France plans to beef up security after series of attacks". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest   1639832844.
  30. ↑ Leveille, David (22 December 2014). "France endures deadly attacks, but can't decide if they're terrorism". Public Radio International. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  31. ↑ Evans, Michael (24 December 2014). "Britain on alert over hit-and-run terrorists". The Times. ProQuest   1639886784.

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