A man has been decapitated by attackers brandishing Islamist flags at a French factory near Grenoble, according to officials.

The severed head had Arabic writing scrawled across it and was found on a fence next to two jihadi banners, a French official said.

Two other people were hurt in explosions at the factory, French President Francois Hollande said.

The blasts were triggered when two attackers deliberately crashed a car into gas canisters, according to police.

Reports said a 30-year-old man had been arrested. He is understood to have been known to foreign intelligence services.


Attackers reportedly carrying Islamist flags are said to have rammed a car into the building, setting off an explosion.



A man has been decapitated by attackers brandishing Islamist flags at a French factory near Grenoble, according to officials.

The severed head had Arabic writing scrawled across it and was found on a fence next to two jihadi banners, a French official said.

Two other people were hurt in explosions at the factory, French President Francois Hollande said.

The blasts were triggered when two attackers deliberately crashed a car into gas canisters, according to police.

Reports said a 30-year-old man had been arrested. He is understood to have been known to foreign intelligence services.
French attack

Picture of the scene (ledauphine.com)

Le Parisien reported gunshots and that one Islamist had been killed at the premises in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, southeastern France.

Le Dauphine newspaper reported that police are hunting for another man associated with the attack.





One witness called Caroline, from a neighbouring factory, said: "I heard a really loud noise. Fire engines arrived with the police.

"We thought it was a motorway accident."

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said security was being tightened at "sensitive sites" in response to the attack.

Mr Hollande is returning to France from the EU summit in Belgium.

Speaking from Brussels he described the attack as "terrorist".

"The president saw the first images of the attack on the 24-news channels with German Chancellor Angela Merkel beside him, who was visibly shocked," an official added.

The two leaders had just ended a short meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he would go "immediately" to the scene.

David Cameron has spoken to Mr Hollande in Brussels to express his sympathies. Downing Street described the attack as an "appalling incident".
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Employees at the factory - Air Products - are said to be "very shocked".

Air Products is an American chemical company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Henry Samuel, a correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, told Sky News: "The person arrested was allegedly carrying a flag of the Islamic State and he said he was a member of the IS."

The attack came nearly six months after the Islamist attacks in and around Paris that killed 17 people in January.

Those attacks started with a shooting at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Sky's foreign affairs editor Sam Kiley said: "There has been a concerted effort by Islamic State to reach out to their followers in France and exhortations to conduct this sort of attack.

"We saw with the Charlie Hebdo attack these were also self-starter individuals who had had training from al Qaeda in Yemen.

"One of the three said he was there on behalf of Islamic State, the other two claimed membership of al Qaeda.

"In a sense it doesn't matter. What matters is that people are inspired to carry out terrorist attacks."