Severed Head Found After Suspected Terror Attack at French Chemical Factory

By Inti Landauro And Noemie Bisserbe 

PARIS--A factory in southeastern France was targeted in a terrorist attack Friday morning, leaving one person dead and two injured, French President François Hollande said. Two police officers said a severed head was found at the site of the assault.

One man has been detained and identified in connection with the attack, Mr. Hollande said in an address from Brussels, where he was attending a European Union summit.

Two police officers said Arabic writing was found at the scene. France's antiterrorism prosecutors said they were opening an investigation on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with the attack.

The factory, operated by U.S. industrial gas maker Air Products and Chemicals Inc., is located in an industrial zone in the town of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier near Lyon.

The details of the attack weren't immediately clear, but Mr. Hollande said it was aimed to cause an explosion.

An employee of Végé France, an engine supplier located on the same street as the plant, said she heard an explosion around 10 a.m. local time. "The windows were trembling," she said.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve had arrived at the site, according to French TV, and Mr. Hollande planned to leave the summit early and return to France, where he would meet with his defense cabinet in the early afternoon.

Mr. Hollande said security forces had been deployed in the region of the attack.

The attack comes just six months after masked gunmen stormed the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing a dozen people. The January assault came before a killing spree by another gunman claiming allegiance to Islamic State that brought the total death toll to 17 people.

France has been on high alert for possible terrorist attacks, mobilizing thousands of police and paramilitary at sensitive sites, including schools, newspapers, and places of worship.

It was unclear if the suspects have any links to radical Islamist groups, such as Islamic State and al Qaeda. Islamic State has called on followers to mount terrorist attacks on France, which has been involved in airstrikes against the militant group's operations in Iraq.

Shortly after the January attacks, France unveiled a series of measures to bolster the country's security and intelligence forces, moving quickly to patch holes in the country's security net.

Write to Inti Landauro at [e-mail] and Noemie Bisserbe at [e-mail]

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