Nice knife attack live: Attacker in Nice a 21-year-old Tunisian migrant

As he did every day, the sexton of the Notre Dame church in the French city of Nice opened up the doors around 8:30 am. There were few people around; the first Mass of the day was not due to start for another two hours. But soon after he started work, a man armed with a knife entered the church and slit the throat of the sexton, beheaded an elderly woman, and badly wounded a third woman, according to a police source.

"The French in the course of their history has killed millions of people. Many were Muslims. Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past." Mahathir, who served as Malaysian premier twice for a total of 24 years, said that French President Emmanuel Macron was "not showing that he is civilised", adding he was "very primitive".

"I strongly condemn the recent terrorist attacks in France, including today's heinous attack in Nice inside a church. Our deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and the people of France. India stands with France in the fight against terrorism," PM Modi said in a tweet.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that he would be stepping up the deployment of soldiers to protect key French sites, such as places of worship and schools, following the fatal knife attack in Nice earlier in the day.

An attacker armed with a knife killed three people at a church Thursday in the Mediterranean city of Nice, French authorities said. It was the third attack in two months in France amid a growing furor over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that were re-published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

European Union leaders expressed solidarity with France on Thursday and pledged to confront "those that seek to incite and spread hatred" after a knifeman killed three in a Nice church.