Copenhagen (AFP) – A man riddled with bullets Saturday in Copenhagen a cultural center that housed a debate about Islam and freedom of expression, which involved the author of a caricature of Mohammed and the Ambassador of France, killing one and wounding three policemen.
“Denmark was hit today by a cynical act of violence. There is evidence that the shooting (…) was a political attack and therefore a terrorist act, “said the head of the Danish government, Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
Paris immediately condemned” with the utmost firmness “the” terrorist attack “which occurred around 1500 GMT.
The police first spoke of two alleged assailants, who fled aboard a Volkswagen Polo. The empty vehicle was found a few hours later, near the site of the attack and a train station.
Then four hours after the attack, the police reported that ” the first testimonies indicate that there was an author “shots. Police released a photograph, apparently taken in a parking lot, a man wearing a dark jacket and a cap or hood burgundy, with an alert: 25 to 30 years old, about 1.85 m, athletic.
Contacted by AFP, France’s ambassador to Denmark François Zimeray described a brutal assault.
“They shot at us from the outside. It ‘ had the same intention as [against the attack] Charlie Hebdo except that they were not able to enter, “he said, while he was still on the scene an hour after the attack.
The attack on 7 January in Paris by two French jihadists against the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo killed 12 people. The attackers entered the newsroom and opened it on fire before killing a policeman in their flight.
In Copenhagen, “intuitively I would say that there was at least 50 shots fire, and police here say we 200. balls have passed through the doors and everyone was thrown to the ground, “he told the ambassador of France.
” We managed to escape from the room, and there it stays inside because it is still critical. The attackers were not caught, they may well still be in the neighborhood, “said Mr Zimeray.
“An unidentified man died after being hit by gunfire,” police said in a statement.
Three policemen were injured while trying to protect the Krudttønden cultural center according to Danish media
-. Reporting broadcast –
The Danish television showed the windows of screened impacts cultural center. The weapon or weapons used are not known, but the media speculated about the possibility of an automatic weapon as the number of bullets fired during a brief assault.
Dozens of people attended the debate under police protection.
Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist, has been the subject of several threats and attacks since the summer 2007 a drawing showing the Prophet Muhammad with a dog body. It moves only under escort.
The intelligence services (PET) indicated that the attack was “planned”. But the police said that the question of the person or persons specifically targeted was “not obvious”.
The Swedish security services told AFP they were mobilized in case alleged attackers would cross the strait between Copenhagen Malmö.
The French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned “with the utmost firmness” the “terrorist attack” and French President Francois Hollande expressed in the First Danish Minister “all the solidarity of France in this event.”
The Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that he was going “promptly” in Copenhagen.
The police had established a wide security perimeter around the premises in order to make the initial findings.
“It’s something we feared after Charlie Hebdo,” said AFP the secretary general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Christophe Deloire. “It is clear that ultra-radical groups are waging a war against freedom of expression, freedom of criticism against religions and irreverent against mere freedom to debate.”
No comments:
Post a Comment