France witnesses another church attack, priest seriously injured in Lyon shooting

Two days after a knife attack at a Catholic church in the French city of Nice, a Greek Orthodox priest has been shot outside a church in Lyon on October 31. While speaking to the Associated Press, a police official said that the priest is currently in a local hospital with life-threatening injuries after being hit in the abdomen. The officials informed that the assailant, who is reported to be at large, was alone and fired from a hunting rifle. 

The priest was shot twice at around 4 pm (local time) as he was closing the church in the city’s seventh arrondissement. After the incident, the police cordoned off the largely residential neighbourhood around the church and warned the public to stay alert. The Lyon public prosecutor’s office said that it had opened an investigation into attempted murder, and was liaising closely with the national anti-terrorism prosecutor. 

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The Saturday incident comes after a man armed with a knife killed three people in a church in Nice on Thursday. Earlier on October 16, a history teacher was beheaded outside his school amid ongoing tensions over a French newspaper’s publication of caricatures mocking Prophet Muhammad. The events have heightened tensions in the country over radical Islamist, secularism and freedom of speech. 

After Saturday’s incident, French PM Jean Castex reiterated the government promises to deploy military forces at religious sites and schools. He said that the French people can "count on the nation" to allow them to practice their religion in full safety and freedom. In the wake of the recent attacks, France has stepped up security across the nation. Minister and officials have even warned that more of such attacks were likely.

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Third attack in one month 

France has witnessed three attacks in just one month. Apart from the air of fear in France, there is an uproar in Muslim majority countries against the European nation for defending the satirical cartoons with a call to boycott French goods. Moreover, since the beheading of history teacher Samuel Paty, the controversial cartoons have been displayed in France to showcase solidarity but has left some Muslims across the world angered. 

In the aftermath, people have flooded the streets denouncing France and its President Emmanuel Macron, who has reiterated his stance as the protector of the right to freedom of speech. Most recently on October 26, after meeting with the Muslim community representatives in France, Macron had pledged to tackle "Islamist separatism" and said that it was threatening to take over some Muslim communities in the European nation.

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