Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloini on Friday voiced solidarity with France over the rampage and supermarket siege by a lone Islamist gunman in the country's southwest in which three people were killed.
"Italy is close to the French government and people and to the families of the victims of this attack in Carcassonne," Gentiloni said at at press conference in Brussels, where he was attending a summit of European Union leaders.
"The attack would appear indicate the continuing menace posed by jihadist radicalism in France and calls once again for European countries to mobilise and show solidarity - on this occasion towards France which has once again been hit by the terrorist threat," Gentiloni said.
The Islamic State jihadist group claimed the attack via its Amaq news agency, calling the gunman one of the group's "soldiers", who had acted in response to calls to attack countries belonging to the military coalition against IS.
Investigators named the gunman as Redouane Lakdim, believed to be of Moroccan descent, and said he was flagged to intelligence services and appeared in a database of radicalised militants.
Lakdim was shot dead by police who stormed the supermarket in Trebes, outside Carcassonne, where he had taken several hostages.
France has been hit with several deadly jihadist attacks since 2015 and has been on high alert since then. A state of emergency put in place after the 2015 attacks in Paris was lifted in October.
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