French President Emmanuel Macron has strongly condemned the brutal stabbing of a young Muslim worshipper inside a mosque in La Grand-Combe, southern France. Writing on X, Macron declared: “Racism and hatred based on religion can have no place in France. Freedom of worship cannot be violated.”
The victim, a man in his early 20s originally from Mali, was stabbed dozens of times by a suspect who reportedly shouted anti-Islamic insults and filmed the attack. The assailant, a French citizen of Bosnian origin born in 2004, remains at large and is considered “potentially extremely dangerous” by authorities.
Prime Minister François Bayrou described the attack as an “Islamophobic atrocity,” while the French Council of the Muslim Faith labeled it an “anti-Muslim terrorist attack.” In response, thousands marched across France in solidarity, holding rallies including a poignant vigil at Paris’s Place de la République.
Justice and Interior ministers have pledged to mobilize all resources to apprehend the suspect and safeguard religious freedoms. Macron’s statement reaffirms France’s commitment to protecting freedom of worship and standing against all forms of hatred.