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Terror strikes France again, truck driver kills dozens

French President Francois Hollande announced the extension of state of emergency' by 3 months.

By :  naren pulloor
Update: 2016-07-15 03:00 GMT
A truck ploughed into a crowd in the French resort of Nice, killing at least 80 in what President Francois Hollande called a 'terrorist' attack on revellers watching a Bastille Day fireworks display.
Hollande announced he would extend France's state of emergency for three months in the wake of this latest attack and step up' the government's action against jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
The attacker struck after a day of military pomp and ceremony in Paris -- where armed forces, tanks and fighter jets swooped down the Champs Elysees avenue and spectacular firework displays.
The bloodshed came on Bastille Day, a celebration of everything France holds dear, its secular republic and the values of Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite' (Freedom, Equality, Fraternity).
The attack is the third major strike against France in less than 18 months and prosecutors said anti-terrorist investigators would handle the probe.
A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged, with burst tyres.
The attack was of an undeniable terrorist nature,' a sombre Hollande said in a televised national address, confirming that several children' were among the dead as families came together to celebrate France's national day.
Authorities said they found identity papers belonging to a 31-year-old French-Tunisian citizen in the truck, as well as guns' and larger weapons'.
The driver was shot dead after barrelling the truck two kilometres (1.3 miles) through the festive crowd on the palm-lined Promenade des Anglais, sending hundreds fleeing in terror and leaving the area strewn with bodies.
French President Francois Hollande announced the extension of state of emergency' by 3 months.

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