Scene of France terrorist attack
Scene of France terrorist attackReuters

The Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group on Friday claimed responsibility for a shooting spree and hostage siege in southern France, AFP reported, citing the group’s propaganda agency.

"The person who carried out the attack in Trebes in southern France is a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried out the operation in response to a call to target states" of the anti-ISIS international coalition, the Amaq agency said in a statement on social messenging app Telegram.

At least three people were killed in Friday’s shooting spree and hostage siege in southern France, after a gunman carried out three separate attacks in the medieval town of Carcassonne and nearby Trebes.

The gunman was identified as a 26-year-old drug dealer monitored as a possible Islamic extremist.

"We had monitored him and did not think he had been radicalized. He was already under surveillance when he suddenly decided to act," Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters after flying to the scene, according to AFP.

Named as Redouane Lakdim and said by security sources to have Moroccan nationality, the gunman first hijacked a car in Carcassonne, killing a passenger and injuring the driver, before shooting and injuring a policeman who was out jogging.

After driving around 15 minutes to a Super U supermarket in the sleepy town of Trebes, shouting "Allahu Akbar", a witness reported.

He killed another two people and took hostages for more than three hours, armed with a knife and a gun, according to survivors. Another witness said he had grenades.

During the stand-off with police, he asked for unidentified prisoners to be released and was finally shot by anti-terror officers when they raided the premises.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)