Metz, October 30: A suspicious package has been found inside St Martin Church in Metz, the French police said on Friday. A security parameter has been established around the unattended package inside St Martin Church, they added. Vehicular movement in the area was restricted. The discovery of the reported suspicious package comes a day after a knife attack was reported inside a cathedral in Nice.

The attack took place at 9 am on Thursday inside the Notre-Dame basilica. Three people, including a woman, were killed and several others wounded in the attack. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said that one of the victims had been beheaded by the attacker who was repeatedly shouting "Allahu Akbar". He has been identified as 21-year-old Brahim Aouissaoui. French President Emmanuel Macron Vows to Take New Measures to Fight Terrorism.

This is not the first time Nice has come under attack. In 2016, a Tunisian named Mohammed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a 19-tonne cargo truck into the crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day, killing eighty-six people. President Emmanuel Macron, who visited the attack site later on Thursday, deemed the incident as an "Islamist terrorist attack" and said that the number of soldiers being deployed to protect public places would increase to 7,000, the BBC reported.

France has raised its national security alert to the highest level. Thursday's attack comes after middle-school teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old Muslim immigrant, Abdullakh Anzorov inside a school near Paris on October 16.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 30, 2020 05:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).