Nice attack: Albanian man suspected of providing arms to attacker arrested in Italy

Dozens of people were killed in the attack on Bastille Day, 2016
Dozens of people were killed in the attack on Bastille Day, 2016 Copyright Claude Paris/AP
Copyright Claude Paris/AP
By Euronews with AP, AFP
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The suspect has been identified as Endri Elenzi and is alleged to have provided arms for the 2016 attack.

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Italian police have arrested a 28-year-old Albanian wanted in connection with the 2016 Nice truck attack.

The suspect is believed to be an accomplice of the attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who killed 86 people in the attack in the southern French city.

The man was wanted on a European Arrest Warrant issued by French authorities for allegedly supplying arms to Bouhlel.

He was arrested by Italian police in the town of Sparanise, about 40 kilometres north of Naples, on Wednesday evening.

"The operation was conducted by the Digos of Naples and Caserta coordinated by the Central Directorate of Prevention Police and with the collaboration of the Postal and Communications Police Department of Campania," police said in a statement.

Bouhlel was killed by police after plowing a truck down Nice’s Promenade des Anglais and into a crowd assembled for a Bastille Day fireworks display.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which also killed six Italian nationals.

French authorities say that Bouhlel, a Tunisian with French residency, was inspired by the extremist group’s propaganda, but that no evidence has been found that IS orchestrated the attack.

France’s counter-terrorism prosecutors last year made a formal request for nine suspects to face trial in connection with the attack.

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