That attack followed one in January in which gunmen killed journalists working for Charlie Hebdo, a satirical publication targeted over cartoons mocking Islam.
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Neither IS nor the French government have provided tangible evidence of a link between the group and Bouhlel.
Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday on RTL radio that while the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the Bastille Day attack, the driver may have been motivated by IS messages but not necessarily co-ordinating with a larger network.
Following the silence, for which thousands of people flocked to the Promenade des Anglais, there was applause and a rendition of the French national anthem as many of those singing defiantly raised their fists in the air. His father, in Tunisia, said his son did not pray or fast for Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
A report in the Nice Matin newspaper said investigators had found no radical material in his flat, although they were still looking at his telephone and computer.
France fell silent yesterday for the victims of the Nice truck attack, but the mourning was overshadowed by politicians tearing into each other over the massacre. Silke said the sporadic nature of these attacks means that they can still unsettle France’s national psyche, but that the more often they happen, the less impact they will have.
Joggers, bikers and sunbathers on Sunday cruised along the pedestrian walkway along the glistening Mediterranean Sea, where well-wishers placed flowers, French flags, stuffed animals and candles.
Six people are still being held over the attacks, including a 38-year-old Albanian suspected of providing Bouhlel with a pistol he used to fire at the police who shot him dead. An argument ensued, with other passers-by saying that his family deserved respect.
Jean-Pascal Padovani said his client had known Bouhlel casually and consumed drugs with him in recent months.
Many families are angry and frustrated that they couldn’t find information about their missing loved ones. Meanwhile, the investigation into the attack is going on.
The prosecutor’s office says it is working as quickly as possible but would not give a time frame for how long the identification process could take.
The paper quoted Nice police officer Yves Bergerat, who said local police forces’ guns and bullets aren’t even equipped “to puncture the tires” let alone shatter the windshield of a truck that size. “That undermines the trust people have in the government to stop these events and it is extraordinarily hard to rebuild that trust once it’s lost”.
A state of emergency imposed across France after the November attacks in Paris has been extended by three months, and military and police reservists are to be called up.
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An official with a special victims’ center in Nice told reporters Sunday that 16 bodies remain unidentified, and forensic experts are working with DNA samples to determine their identities.
