The imam of the mosque attacked by a car in France released on Saturday an official statement condemning the act and supporting the soldiers who were guarding the mosque.
“Those who run the Valence mosque and those loyal to it are profoundly shocked by this act,” Abdallah Dliouah, the Valence mosque’s imam said following the attack. A soldier and an elderly Muslim man were slightly injured when a man drove his car at troops protecting a mosque in Valence in southern France on Friday, officials said.
“The soldiers charged with the protection of the mosque are appreciated by worshippers and we denounce this act of aggression against those who assure our safety,” the imam added.
Further, the imam added that such an act will not deter the community’s ‘determination’ to endorse a life together. “Pending the results of an investigation, we would like to reaffirm that this act, while serious, will not prevent our determination to promote our life together, as we have always done.”
The driver who drove his car at troops protecting the mosque was seriously wounded when the soldiers shot at him but his injuries are not life-threatening, the government said in a statement.
The 29-year-old driver is not known to local intelligence services, a source close to the investigation said. He is from a suburb of Lyon, about an hour’s drive from Valence and his wife has arrived at hospital to see him, the source said.
France has been on high alert since Islamic State militants killed 130 people in shootings and suicide bombings in Paris on November 13. Soldiers are protecting sensitive places across the country, including official buildings and religious sites.
