[Breaking news update, posted at 2:48 p.m. ET Monday]
A van struck a crowd of people Monday in Nantes, France, injuring at least nine people in addition to the driver, police said. Four had serious wounds, plus the driver, police said. CNN affiliate BFM-TV reported that the driver stabbed himself after the incident. It was not immediately clear whether the incident was related to one Sunday in Dijon, France, in which witnesses said a man shouting “God is great” in Arabic rammed his vehicle into pedestrians.
[Previous story, posted at 5:21 a.m. ET Monday]
Driver rams vehicle into pedestrians in Dijon, France
(CNN) — A driver rammed a vehicle into pedestrians in the French city of Dijon on Sunday, reportedly shouting “God is great” in Arabic as he did so.
The incident came a day after a man stabbed three police officers in central France while allegedly calling out the same phrase.
At least 12 people were injured by the vehicle, said police in Dijon, a city in eastern France. A man has been arrested in connection with the case, they said.
CNN affiliate BFM TV reported that eyewitnesses heard the driver shout the phrase “Allahu Akbar” — Arabic for “God is great.”
The incident took place after a man entered a police station Saturday in the suburbs of Tours, in central France, and stabbed three police officers before police shot and killed him.
That assailant also reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar.”
‘The severity of the state’
The stabbing attack is being investigated by French counter-terrorism authorities.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls acknowledged those affected by the violence.
“Support for the gravely injured and shocked police officers in Tours,” he wrote on Twitter. “Those who attack them will have to face up to the severity of the state.”
Regarding Dijon, he voiced “solidarity” with the victims and support for their families.
Concerns over ‘lone wolf’ attacks
The events come amid concerns in the West about so-called “lone wolf” attacks by Islamic extremists influenced by the terrorist group ISIS.
ISIS, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, has called for attacks against civilians in Western countries. France is part of the coalition of countries that has been carrying out strikes against ISIS targets.
Last week, a gunman with extremist Muslim views took people hostage in a cafe in Sydney. The siege ended with the deaths of two hostages and the gunman.
Australia is also in the coalition against ISIS, and the country’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the hostage taker had “sought to cloak his actions with the symbolism of the (ISIS) death cult.”