French Salafist Attacks US Plant in Lyon: One Beheaded

Attacker Worked for Transport Company, Slain Man Was His Boss

by Jason Ditz,

Yassine Salhi, a French Salafist who was the subject of three years of surveillance by the government from 2006-2008, was arrested today as the apparent attacker in a strike against the US-owned Air Products plant in France’s Lyon region.

Salhi worked for a transportation company which did business with the plant, and used one of the company’s vehicles to infiltrate the site. He rammed some gas tanks at the plant,causing an explosion, though reportedly it did not do the massive amount of damage he anticipated.

The severed head of Salhi’s boss at the transportation company was found at the scene, with Arabic writing on it. Two flags covered in writing were also found at the scene, though so far officials have not revealed what any of them said.

The attacker apparently almost escaped the site after the attack, but was caught by one of the firefighters who arrived to deal with the explosion, and was transferred to police. No group has claimed responsibility for the strike yet, and it is unclear if this was an orchestrated strike for some faction, or a lone wolf incident.

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/06/26/french-salafist-attacks-us-plant-in-lyon-one-beheaded/