Among them was Bouhlel’s ex-wife, who was taken into custody Friday, the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said. He was killed by police after ramming his truck through crowds after a holiday fireworks display Thursday night.
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French authorities said they were checking the claim.
“I want to call on all French patriots who wish to do so, to join this operational reserve”, said the interior minister.
One of those held is a 22-year-old suspected of lending logistical support to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, said his lawyer Jean-Pascal Padovani.
A man was arrested on Friday and three other men were taken in by police early Saturday, according to French news agency AFP.
Nice’s Promenade des Anglais is gradually reopening and becoming a shrine to the dead, with memorials set up on the westbound lane of the road in spots where victims were felled, some still identifiable by bloodstains. She also called for a war against Islamic fundamentalism and said Cazeneuve should resign.
In Msaken, Tunisia, the man’s father, Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel, told Agence France-Presse last night that his son had depression, but that he “had nearly no links to religion”, and that “he didn’t pray, he didn’t fast, he drank alcohol, and even used drugs”.
Alongside a number of selfies and searches for gym addresses and salsa bars, the divorced father-of-three’s phone also showed searches for visits to violent sites where executions were displayed, it is unclear if these were ISIS-related or not.
A woman asked if she could put a yellow potted plant there, unaware of the significance of the spot.
The Pope prayed for the end of “terror and death” as he expressed solidarity with the victims and a book of condolence in Nice Cathedral is full of tributes to those who died and their families.
In the hours after the attack, French President Francois Hollande extended the state of emergency he implemented in November and called up thousands of reservists – moves that many in Nice said was too little, too late.
The psychiatrist, Chemceddine Hamouda, said Bouhlel’s parents brought him to his clinic in Msaken in August 2004.
Many family members have expressed frustration over a lack of information about their missing loved ones.
Authorities have now detained seven people over the killings, claimed by Islamic State.
Valls defended the government’s actions but warned that more lives will be lost to this kind of violence.
“Even when Daesh is not the organiser, Daesh breathes life into the terrorist spirit that we are fighting”, he said, using an Arabic name for Isis.
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Charlton reported from Paris.
