Kangana Ranaut is in 'disbelief' as three die in knife attack outside church in Nice

An attacker armed with a knife killed three people at a church on Thursday in the Mediterranean city of Nice, authorities said. It was the third attack in two months in France. Reacting to the news strongly, Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut took to her Twitter handle and expressed shock.

"I am in disbelief," Kangana said. Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, said that the attacker, who has been arrested, shouted “Allahu Akbar” while he was being restrained by police. Taking to Twitter, Estrosi has termed it a terrorist attack and called for an end to “fascism” in the country.

The attack occurred amid rising tension between France and Islamic countries over the recent beheading of a French teacher who showed cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in class. Macron said that the teacher, Samuel Paty, "was killed because Islamists want our future" but France would "not give up our cartoons", triggering anger in the Muslim world. 

The lower house of parliament suspended a debate on France's new virus restrictions and held a moment of silence Thursday for the victims. The prime minister rushed from the hall to a crisis center overseeing the aftermath of the Nice attack.

French President Emmanuel Macron was headed to Nice later in the day.

Less than two weeks ago, an assailant decapitated a French middle school teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet for a class on free speech. Those caricatures were published by Charlie Hebdo and cited by the men who gunned down the newspaper''s editorial meeting in 2015.

In September, a man who had sought asylum in France attacked bystanders outside Charlie Hebdo''s former offices with a butcher knife.

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(with PTI inputs)