France Thrown Into Panic IS Carried Out Attack In A Factory

A member of the notorious group IS carried out an attack at a French factory the blasts were triggered when two attackers deliberately crashed a car into gas canisters, according to police.
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.

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

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.

Employees at the factory - Air Products - are said to be "very shocked".  

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

A correspondent for the Daily Telegraph said "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.

Daily Telegraphy
Sky News