Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed At least one assailant rammed a car onto the premises of a U.S One person was found decapitated and two others were injured French special police forces escort a woman from a residential building during a raid in Saint-Priest The suspect arrested in connection with an Islamist attack did not have a criminal record but had been under watch as being possibly radicalized according to Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve French special police forces stand guard in front of a residential building during a raid in Saint-Priest Spain's Interior minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz (2nd L) speaks with Socialist party representatives Patxi Lopez (3rd R) and Antonio Hernando (2nd R) and Jose Enrique Serrano (R)during an urgency meeting at the interior ministry in Madrid European leaders condemned the "heinous" suspected Islamist attack on a gas factory in France and massacres in Tunisia and Kuwait One person was decapitated near Lyon in southwestern France while in Tunisia gunmen killed at least 27 people in a beach resort and in Kuwait a suicide bombing at a mosque killed 13 The Air Products gas factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier in which a decapitated head was pinned to the gates One person was killed and several others were injured French police secure the entrance of the Air Products company in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier French Gendarmes stand guard next to a black plastic sheet outside a gas company site at the industrial area of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier One of the attackers reportedly waved an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria flag French security and emergency services gather at the entrance of the Air Products company in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier A general view shows the Air Products gas factory site at the industrial area of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier A decapitated head covered in Arabic writing was found at a a site belonged to Air Products a U.S.-based industrial gases technology company after two assailants rammed a car into the premises A French Gendarme blocks the access road to the Saint-Quentin-Fallavier industrial area French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve gives a press conference near the entrance of the Air Products gas factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near Lyon A suspect arrested in connection with the attack on a French gas factory was investigated nine years ago for radicalization and has links to the Salafist movement French President Francois Hollande gives a statement at the European Council headquarters in Brussels Hollande said an attack that morning in southeast France was of "a terrorist nature" and that a suspect had been arrested and identified French police secure the entrance of the Air Products factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier A decapitated body was found outside the factory One person has been killed and at least 12 others injured in an attack on a gas factory in a small town in southeastern France Officials say it was a terrorist attack: A flag of the self-declared Islamic State was reportedly found at the factory southeast of Lyon One suspect has been arrested over the attack which also included an explosion at the facility operated by Air Products an American company whose headquarters are in Pennsylvania It's not yet certain whether he was acting alone "The terrorist nature of this act are without doubt," says French President Francois Hollande who will return home today from a European Union economic summit in Brussels The person who was killed was the manager of a transport company who was making a delivery, according to local newspaper Le Dauphine Libere The newspaper adds that the prefect of Isere says the attacking vehicle was authorized to enter the factory — giving support to the theory that the vehicle belonged to a contractor or supplier Le Dauphine Libere also reports that a second arrest has been made — of a person whose vehicle was seen repeatedly passing in front of the factory Friday morning — but that no direct link has been established between the events French security and emergency services gather at the entrance of the Air Products factory in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that the suspect in the case He also said that the man had been monitored by authorities as far back as 2006 but he was found not to be in communication with terrorist groups Cazeneuve also stated that the suspect had been detained by a local firefighter who was among the first responders at the scene "One or maybe two men rammed the gates of a gas factory in the small industrial town and his head was placed at the front of the factory along with a flag of the so-called Islamic State "Residents of the small town of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier interviewed on television expressed shock that such an attack could take place in their tiny town." According to its website, Air Products specializes in producing industrial and medical gases France's interior minister has ordered increased security at other potential targets around the country deterrence and thus the necessity of embracing values and not giving in to fear Become an NPR sponsor PARIS — A day after a man was decapitated at a gas factory in France's second terror attack in six months residents questioned whether the nation is doing enough to stop terrorists "It feels that these attacks are now happening back to back," said Ilan Cohn "I am afraid that there will be more and more just recently Charlie Hebdo and now this?" a man once placed on a "radicalization list" drove his truck into a U.S.-owned gas factory in the southeastern French city Lyon on Friday triggering an explosion as his boss' severed head was found at the entrance Two people were injured in the explosion of gas canisters "Islamist terrorism has again struck France," Prime Minister Manuel Valls said He warned Saturday that France faces even more attacks Officials told the Associated Press and AFP on Saturday that Salhi took a selfie with the slain victim and sent the image to at least one recipient French security forces had been on high alert since Islamic extremist gunmen targeted the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January setting off several days of attacks in the city that left 20 people dead "These were the actions of a few isolated men but what if it's not the case next time — we could have a mass attack by an organized network of fundamentalists," Cohn said It doesn't feel like the authorities are able to prevent anything." Salhi — who remained in custody Saturday along with his wife and sister — was known to intelligence services but had not been actively monitored by security officers since 2008 at least 66 people died across the three countries Several hundred people gathered in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier on Saturday to remember slain businessman Herve Cornara Cornara was the manager of a transportation company in the region that had employed Salhi since March French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Salhi is believed to have been under the influence of the extreme Salafist branch of Islam that calls for the faithful to return to the religion's roots Arabic inscriptions were found scrawled on the victim and Islamic flags were discovered at the plant If everything was under strict surveillance we wouldn't have this in France," said Madeline Siloe "It doesn't seem to me that there is a serious surveillance But analysts say France has doubled its efforts to counter terrorism since the attack on Charlie Hebdo in January for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility thousands of extra police and military forces have been posted at "sensitive sites," such as tourist attractions and transport hubs The parliament passed a sweeping surveillance bill this week giving vast powers to intelligence services Opponents of the controversial legislation say it grants powers with little oversight and is broader than the much-maligned U.S "It would be inaccurate to say that the French government hasn't done enough to counter the terrorist threat in recent months and years," said Benoît Gomis an international security and terrorism expert at think tank Chatham House "If anything some of what has been put in place might have gone too far in terms of creating opportunity costs and infringing on privacy and other civil liberties," Gomis said "It will never be possible to stop every single terrorist attack." About 1,700 French citizens are believe to be involved in "jihadist networks" as of last month France also has one of the highest numbers of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq per capita in Europe Any measures to tackle the problem could be ineffective if France ignores the context in which people are attracted to radical causes "More needs to be done to address some of the conducive factors to extremism of all sorts in France especially on the social and political fronts," Gomis said "The government needs to ensure that this terrorist attack does not serve as a pretext to victimize the Muslim population create tensions between communities or spread disproportionate levels of fear about terrorism." The number of terrorist attacks worldwide increased 35% last year More than 78% of all terror-related fatalities took place in Iraq With France on high alert and bracing itself for what comes next Paris resident Siloe says fear is not the answer if said I am afraid it would mean they have won," she said "I think we have to be extremely vigilant and keep in mind what happened Prosecutor: A delivery employee drove a van into the factory and set off a blast A decapitated body is found in the van and a severed head is found hanging on a fence French authorities call the attack near Lyon a terrorist act '+n.escapeExpression("function"==typeof(o=null!=(o=r(e,"eyebrowText")||(null!=l?r(l,"eyebrowText"):l))?o:n.hooks.helperMissing)?o.call(null!=l?l:n.nullContext||{},{name:"eyebrowText",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:28,column:63},end:{line:28,column:78}}}):o)+" \n '+(null!=(o=c(e,"if").call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2PreText"):l,{name:"if",hash:{},fn:n.program(32,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:63,column:20},end:{line:63,column:61}}}))?o:"")+"\n"+(null!=(o=(c(e,"ifAll")||l&&c(l,"ifAll")||n.hooks.helperMissing).call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Text"):l,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Link"):l,{name:"ifAll",hash:{},fn:n.program(34,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:64,column:20},end:{line:70,column:30}}}))?o:"")+" You don't have permission to access the page you requested. What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. A suspect has been arrested after the attack in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice An Islamist terrorist tied his boss’s severed head to a fence before making a failed ram raid on a chemical factory near Lyon on Friday. Investigators believe the attack was intended to take scores of lives. Images caught on security cameras of the attacker placing the head on the factory fence before the attack have shocked France. The head was wrapped in an Isis banner carrying a message in Arabic. The victim was the 45-year-old manager of a local transport company, which had permission to enter the heavily protected site. The attacker was one of his drivers, Yassin Salhi, 35, a French-born father of three. The rest of the manager’s body was found after the attack outside the Air Products factory at Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, in the outer south-east suburbs of Lyon. Security camera tapes showed his employee – who had previously been identified by French authorities as an Islamist – attaching his boss’s head to a chain-link fence in what investigators described as a “macabre piece of theatre”. Salhi then climbed back into the company truck and entered the factory compound in the normal way. Once inside the site, he drove at high speed into a pile of gas-canisters, apparently intending to cause a huge explosion. Luckily, the resulting blast was relatively small. Two factory employees were injured. Salhi survived with a minor head injury. After the blast he ran into one of the factory buildings to try to tamper with other gas canisters. When fire fighters arrived he shouted “Allahou Akbar” (God is the greatest) before he was overpowered. Although less disastrous than it might have been – and overshadowed by the killings in Tunisia – the attack sent shock waves through France less than six months after the jihadist murders and attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January. President François Hollande left the EU summit in Brussels to chair a crisis meeting of his defence council in Paris. He appealed for calm in the face of the continuing jihadist threat. It was vital, he said, that the country did not give way to “fear” and “useless divisions and intolerable suspicions”. Patrick Mennucci, a Socialist MP and expert on jihadist networks, said: “France is at war. We have in our territory individuals who do not obey the laws of the Republic, only the fatwas of the Islamic State.” Police also arrested a suspected accomplice, who was seen driving up and down the road near the factory on Friday morning. They also took into custody Salhi’s wife and another woman at his flat. Before she was taken into custody – possibly for her own protection – Salhi’s wife expressed her disbelief at his alleged actions. “What’s happening here? My heart is going to break. It can’t be him,” she said. “We are a normal family with children. We live normally.” Asked if her husband was religious, she said: “Yes, we are Muslims. But in a normal way. We respect Ramadan. No more than that.” It is understood that Salhi had previously been under surveillance by the French security services for alleged involvement with Salafist Islamic radicals, but was taken off the watch list after two years. Investigators believe that the Air Products factory was targeted because it was US-owned and was assumed to contain highly explosive chemicals. The factory was on an official list of hazardous industrial sites but was considered a relatively “low” level of risk. It dealt with chemicals for agriculture, which were not highly combustible. Investigators believe that those who planned the raid assumed that the whole factory would explode, killing the 40 employees on the site and people in offices and factories nearby. The placing of a severed head on the factory’s fence appeared to be deliberately provocative reference to the Isis practice of beheading enemies. French politicians spoke of their outrage that decapitation as an instrument of terror had been imported to Europe. Awkward questions once again face French internal security chiefs after the attack. The Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said Yassin Salhi, the suspect arrested at the scene, had been under surveillance as a follower of the radical Salafist interpretation of Islam. His activities and phone calls were monitored from 2006 to 2008, when the alert was lifted. Similar revelations were made after the jihadist attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket in Paris in January. One of the Kouachi brothers who attacked Charlie Hebdo, killing 12, had been under surveillance until the previous autumn. Mohamed Merah, the “scooter killer” who murdered seven people in the Toulouse area in 2012, had been interviewed by counter-terrorism agents. Yassin Salhi was born in Doubs in eastern France in March 1980. He lived in Saint Priest, a suburb of Lyon 20 miles from the attack, with his wife and three children. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Suspect named as Yassin Sahli arrested after man seemingly tried to blow up factory by crashing a vehicle into warehouse containing gas canisters France has raised its security alert to the highest level after police discovered a decapitated body and flags with Arabic inscriptions following an attack in which a man seemingly tried to blow up a factory belonging to a US gas company. A suspect arrested at the scene at Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon in south-west France, was named by the French prosecutor as 35-year-old Yassin Salhi, an employee at a transport company run by the victim. The suspect was known to people at the Air Products factory because he came in regularly for deliveries, the prosecutor said. Read moreThe victim’s head was found hanging on a fence next to two inscribed flags with the rest of his body inside the factory “It is a terror attack. There is no doubt about it,” the French president, François Hollande, told reporters in Brussels before leaving a European council summit to return to Paris. France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said Sahli had previously faced investigation over radicalisation The prosecutor said that between 2011 and 2014 French security services had been investigating Salhi for connections to salafist groups in the Lyon area says French president François Hollande GuardianHollande led a security meeting at the Elysée palace saying afterwards he had raised the security alert in the south-east region to maximum was to determine if the alleged attacker had accomplices The suspect’s wife was later arrested, as was his sister and an unidentified man reportedly seen driving past the Air Products site several times before the attack. Earlier, a woman identifying herself as Sahli’s wife told Europe 1 radio that she and the couple’s three children had known nothing of the planned attack The suspect was believed to have hung his manager’s head on a fence before driving a vehicle into a warehouse filled with gas canisters, causing an explosion, a local newspaper, Dauphiné Libéré Security officials told Associated Press the attacker had seemingly hoped to cause a far bigger explosion with his actions believing the canisters were more combustible than they proved Hollande said the apparent intention of the attack had been to blow up the factory the centre-right president of the French Sénat saying he had spoken to the local public prosecutor and members of France’s anti-terrorist brigade in Paris He said the attacker was known at the gas storage unit where he made deliveries “This is why he had access to the site,” Larcher said “There is a very strong sense of shock,” he added Larcher paid tribute to a firefighter who reportedly stopped the attacker blowing up a stock of gas bottles Video: French suspect had been under surveillance a 23-year-old Muslim man who lives 100 metres from the depot said he was furious that “these people claim to be Muslims” To carry out this attack on a Friday during the holy month is not respectful of Islam These people may call themselves Muslims but they are not you do not have the right to cut off someone’s head you do not have the right to explode anything near our homes where our children live There is no more tension than anywhere else,” Mehdi said adding that he feared the attack would bring reprisals against the Muslim community in France Air Products confirmed there had been an incident at its factory and said all staff had been evacuated “We can confirm that an incident occurred at our facility in L’Isle-d’Abeau “Our priority at this stage is to take care of our employees who have been evacuated from the site and all accounted for Emergency services are on site and have contained the situation Our crisis and emergency response teams have been activated and are working closely with all relevant authorities.” France has been on alert for possible Islamist-related attacks since gunmen killed 17 people in January in assaults on the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a Jewish food store Hollande said the response to such attacks should be measured He said: “We all remember what has happened in our country and we need to spread our values and to never give in to fear.” It has 20,000 employees and outlets in 50 countries Employees prepare a convoy of four trucks transporting warm clothes and shoes to refugees in Ukraine One part of the refugee crisis in Europe has largely been forgotten: the plight of people who've been displaced by the war in eastern Ukraine Life is getting harder for some refugees who fled to Russia Russia's Federal Migration Service says more than a million people fled from eastern Ukraine to Russia to escape the warfare of the past two years families crossed the border into Russia with everything they could carry in suitcases and sacks Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Civic Assistance Committee, a volunteer group that helps refugees says the Ukrainians got a warm welcome at first they opened high quality camps for the newcomers," she says Russia decently accepted the flood of refugees that it had provoked." But Gannushkina says Russia's enthusiasm for helping the Ukrainians quickly waned Many people from eastern Ukraine have relatives in Russia and they were able to move from the camps to stay with family members But others stayed on simply because they had nowhere else to go Food is distributed to Ukrainian refugees at a camp in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on April 7 Russia's Federal Migration Service says more than a million people have fled from eastern Ukraine to Russia to escape the warfare of the past two years Camp Romashka ("Daisy") is a small resort on the shore of the Azov Sea in southern Russia it's a popular camp for kids from nearby cities it also housed about 120 Ukrainian refugees a 36-year-old mother of three from Donetsk — which is now controlled by pro-Russian militants — says she's been living here with her kids for more than a year-and-a-half because the windows of her house were blown out by shelling and many of her possessions were stolen by looters not far from the front line between the Russian-backed militants and Ukrainian troops But ongoing fighting between the two sides means that shells often hit her old neighborhood He's had two heart attacks and I need to protect him from this." Refugee housing is a strain on government budgets at a time when Russia is facing a financial crisis says Russian authorities are now moving aggressively to close refugee centers and concentrate the remaining refugees in a few places Refugees from eastern Ukraine queued to get food in a refugee camp near the city of Donetsk and residents like Butko and Latyuk have been shifted into a single camp with a few hundred other people Gannushkina says it's a mistake for Russia not to put more effort into integrating the Ukrainians — especially since Russia has been fighting to reverse its own population decline "It's clear that we need to compensate for population loss with migration," she says "and it's in Russia's interest to take in people with a closely related culture." Gannushkina says that of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who fled to Russia only about 275 have actually received formal refugee status have largely been left to fend for themselves