An armed man took over a bank branch in the northwestern city of Le Havre and took several hostages • According to state reports, the man has links to Islamist organizations
Security incident in France // Archive photo: AP
An armed terrorist abducted several people today (Thursday) at a bank branch in downtown Le Havre in the Normandy region of northwestern France. The gunman fortifies the place and demands the release of "Palestinian children imprisoned by Israel" in exchange for the release of the hostages.
Many police forces arrived in the area including a counter-terrorism unit. According to the German news network RTL, the man is known to the police and is known in connection with extremist political Islam organizations in the country.
The Reuters news agency brought the words of and of Yves to Fabreba, the chairman of the French police organization who said: “We have identified the kidnapper. It's on our lists. We know that he has undergone a process of religious extremism and suffers from severe psychiatric problems. "
The AP news agency claimed that the man was holding four people hostage but their identities were not yet known. According to a report in the French newspaper La Figaro, one abductee managed to escape and three remained at the bank branch. According to the Reuters news agency, the kidnapper released three hostages.
A police source told Reuters that the kidnapper said he wanted the Palestinian issue and the living conditions of the Palestinians to be on the agenda.
