French PM calls for vigilance after attacks

French officials said on Tuesday that the series of bloody attacks that took place over the weekend were not linked to one another.

"These are individually serious and worrying events," Manuel Valls told Europe 1 radio."Even if there is no link between them, I understand the worry of people faced with shocking images and the sadness of victims," Valls added.

Valls was meeting with his ministers on Tuesday to discuss the situation: "The best response is to continue to live peacefully with the necessary vigilance of course," he said on air.

The prime minister was talking about a series of three attacks that left at least 26 people injured. Motives for the violence were unclear, although counter-terrorism investigations had begun.

On Saturday, a man in Tours stormed a police station, shouting "God is Great" in Arabic, and injured two policemen before he was shot dead. The attacker's brother, who had links with radical Islam, was arrested in Burundi the same day, the Associated Press quoted Burundi intelligence spokesperson Telesphore Bigirimana as saying.

On Sunday, a man chanting "Allahu Akbar" rammed his car into 13 people in Dijon, seriously injuring two passers-by. The 40-year-old driver had a long history of mental problems and had visited psychiatrist wards 157 times, Dijon prosecutor Marie Christine Tarrare told reporters.

On Monday, a man drove his truck into a wine stand in Nantes, injuring at least ten people. Authorities believed the attacker was unbalanced and not motivated by politics or religion.

mg/es (AFP,dpa, AP)