Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Friday 21 april 2017

IS group claims Champs-Elysees attack on police officers

violence on the sparkling Belgian or had lived in Bel-
boulevard threatened to gium. The group described
weigh on voters’ decisions. it as an attack “in the heart
Investigators were con- of Paris.”
ducting searches early Fri- Police and soldiers sealed
day in at least one eastern off the area, ordering tour-
suburb of Paris, according ists back into hotels and
to three police officials. blocking people from ap-
Authorities were trying to proaching the scene.
determine whether the as- The attacker had been
sailant had accomplices, flagged as an extremist,
anti-terrorism prosecutor according to two police
Francois Molins told report- officials, speaking on con-
ers at the scene. dition of anonymity be-
The attacker emerged cause they weren’t autho-
from a car and used an rized to publicly discuss the
automatic weapon to investigation. Interior Minis-
shoot at officers outside a try spokesman Pierre-Henry
Marks & Spencer’s store at Brandet said officers were
the center of the Champs- “deliberately” targeted.
Elysees, Molins said. Two Islamic State group-in-
police officers and a wom- spired attacks have killed
an tourist were wounded, at least 235 people in
Police seal off the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, France, after a fatal shooting in which a police he said. The Islamic State France since January 2015,
officer was killed along with an attacker, Thursday, April 20, 2017. An attacker with an automatic group’s claim of responsi- by far the largest casualty
weapon opened fire on police on Paris’ iconic Champs-Elysees Thursday night, killing one officer bility just a few hours after figure of any Western coun-
and seriously wounding two others before police shot and killed him. the attack came unusually try. France remains under
(AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
swiftly for extremist group, a state of emergency. Se-
LORI HINNANT night, killing one officer and didates canceled or re- which has been losing ter- curity has been especially
SYLVIE CORBET wounding three people scheduled last-minute ritory in Iraq and Syria. high since Tuesday, when
Associated Press before police shot and campaign events ahead of In a statement from its police said they thwarted
PARIS (AP) — A gunman killed him. The Islamic State Sunday’s first round vote in Amaq news agency, the a terror attack by arrest-
opened fire on police on group quickly claimed re- the tense election. Security group gave a pseudonym ing two men. On Thursday
Paris’ iconic Champs-Ely- sponsibility for the attack. already was a dominant for the shooter, Abu Yusuf night, emergency vehicles
sees boulevard Thursday French presidential can- theme in the race, and the al-Beljiki, indicating he was blocked the wide Champs-
Elysees, an avenue lined
EU: China, Europe have interest in averting Korea crisis with shops and normally
packed with cars and tour-
ists that cuts across central
CHRIS BODEEN that the crisis with North Ko- have common responsibili- of its nuclear weapons pro- Paris between the Arc de
Associated Press rea will have a global fall- ties,” she said. gram to the point where it Triomphe and the Tuileries
BEIJING (AP) — EU for- out,” Mogherini said she dis- may become capable of Gardens. Subway stations
eign policy chief Federica she told students at the cussed the issue of North striking the U.S. is seen as were closed off.
Mogherini expressed con- prestigious school that has Korea at length during her pushing the peninsula to- The gunfire sent scores of
cern Thursday about rising produced many of Chi- talks with Chinese officials ward its most severe crisis in tourists fleeing into side
tensions over North Korea’s na’s top leaders. in Beijing. years. streets. “They were running,
nuclear weapons program, Mogherini said a remark She said China and the EU President Donald Trump running,” said 55-year-old
and said China and Europe from her 12-year-old had a “common respon- has called for Beijing to Badi Ftaïti, who lives in the
have a common respon- daughter that China was sibility and an interest to use its influence as Pyong- area. “Some were crying.
sibility to avoid a military in a region threatened by avoid a military escalation yang’s most important There were tens, maybe
escalation on the Korean nuclear war underscored in the Korean Peninsula, trading partner and ally even hundreds of them.”
Peninsula. the importance of joint ac- to push for North Korea to to pressure North Korea to A witness identified only as
In a speech at Tsinghua tion to prevent the situation abide by its international stop its nuclear and missile Ines told French television
University on her final day from further deteriorating. obligations and re-engage programs. station BFM that she heard
of a three-day trip to Bei- “If a 12-year-old in Europe with the international com- But Pyongyang has pressed a shooting and saw a
jing, Mogherini warned of understands the risks of an munity, and work together ahead with missile launch- man’s body on the ground
the worldwide implications escalation, (in) such a far- for a denuclearized Korean es and has been observed before police quickly evac-
of a crisis on the peninsula. away place from home, it Peninsula.” making preparations to test uated the area where she
“Everyone understands is quite self-evident that we North Korea’s acceleration a sixth nuclear device.q works in a shop. q