One Man Shot Dead in Anti-Terrorist Operation in Strasbourg
A man was shot and fatally wounded Saturday in Strasbourg while being arrested by French police in connection with a nationwide anti-terrorist operation, judicial and police sources said.
According to initial reports, when police entered the suspect's home, the man shot at police who returned fire and fatally wounded him, a source close to the inquiry said without giving further details.
The police operation was part of the investigation into an incident on September 19 when "a minimally powerful explosive" was hurled into a Kosher grocery store in Sarcelles, in the Paris suburbs, a judicial source said.
That incident left one person slightly injured but triggered strong reaction in the town's large Jewish community.
In the Strasbourg operation, three police officers were lightly wounded, protected by their bullet-proof vests and helmets, the judicial source added.
A police source said the suspects targeted in the operation could belong to a Salafist extremist network.
The anti-terror sweep was continuing on Saturday in several cities around France.
One man was arrested in the French Riviera city of Cannes, while another suspect, who was armed but did not fire his weapon, was taken into custody in a Paris suburb.
Following the attack on the kosher grocery store in Sarcelles, investigators declined to link it to the recent anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims" which triggered global protests or the publication of naked cartoons of Prophet Mohammed by a satirical French weekly.
Moshe Cohen-Sabban, a local Jewish community leader in Sarcelles said after the incident that there were no "special" religious tensions in the working-class area with a population of about 60,000 and large numbers of Muslims and Jews.
The council representing Jewish institutions in France (CRIF) also said it doubted that the incident in Sarcelles was related to the violence surrounding the anti-Islam film.
Israel's ambassador to France, Yossi Gal, however condemned it as an "anti-Semitic attack".
