New fears of terrorism after lorry attack in Nice
The attack in Nice on Thursday by a man driving a lorry through a crowd opened up a frightening new landscape for terrorism in western Europe and the United States.
The power of using a truck as a weapon was clear for all to see as 84 people were mowed down, The New York Times reported.
These vehicles are the lifeblood of any economy.
In the US, they carry about 70 per cent of the goods transported, industry group American Trucking Associations told the newspaper.
They haul more than eight billion tonnes each year, the group said, using millions of drivers to deliver goods to every corner of the country.
"Without trucks," the group said, "America stops."
Lorriess will be difficult to spot and stop if attackers decide to use one to sow death and destruction.
The perpetrator of the Nice attack, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old immigrant from Tunisia, was shot dead by police during the incident.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has repeated a call to use cars as weapons on several occasions, including in a video released last November that featured three French fighters in Syria.
"There are weapons and cars available, and targets ready to be hit," one of the French fighters said.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the Nice attack as police yesterday arrested three more people there, Reuters reported.
ARRESTS
The arrests, which came on top of two others, including that of Bouhlel's ex-wife, concerned his "close entourage", police sources said.
The arrests were made in two areas in Nice.
A Reuters reporter saw about 40 elite police officers raid a small apartment near the central station, and one person was arrested.
The Nice attack has plunged France into new grief and fear just eight months after gunmen killed 130 people in Paris.
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