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Police officers in front of the Bayonne mosque targeted by an attack, Monday, October 28, 2019. GAIZKA IROZ / AFP

Shots were fired Monday afternoon October 28 in front of the mosque of the city of Bayonne, in the south-west of France. The suspect, an 84-year-old man who attacked two worshipers, was arrested shortly after the incident.

Around 15:30, Monday, a suspect lays an explosive device in front of the mosque of Bayonne and activates. The front door catches fire. Alerted, two men leave the building and come face to face with the individual who shoots them and seriously wounds them. The victims, aged 74 and 78, were hospitalized, but their lives are no longer in danger.

Leaving the scene, the suspect sets a car on fire. A witness, interviewed by our colleagues from France Bleu Pays Basque, said that he saved a person who was under the vehicle in time.

Thanks to his license plate, the police call a suspect at his home in the Landes, the neighboring department. He would have acknowledged the facts.

The man is 84 years old, he is a former candidate of Marine Le Pen's party, the National Front, now called National Rally. He ran for the 2015 local elections.

On her twitter account, without mentioning the identity of the shooter, the boss of the RN denounces an unspeakable act absolutely contrary to the values ​​of his party.

The attack on the #Bayonne mosque is an unspeakable act that is absolutely contrary to all the values ​​of our movement. These crimes must be treated with the utmost severity. MLP

Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) October 28, 2019

Laurent Nunez, the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior, must go to Bayonne. On site, a psychological cell was opened near the mosque.

President Emmanuel Macron, in a tweet, condemned with "firmness the odious attack" in front of the mosque.

I strongly condemn the heinous attack perpetrated in front of the Bayonne mosque. I address my thoughts to the victims. The Republic will never tolerate hatred. Everything will be done to punish the perpetrators and protect our compatriots of the Muslim faith. I commit myself to it.

Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 28, 2019