An explosion rocked a restaurant near a mosque in the French village of Ville franche-sur-Saone, on the outskirts of Lyon, about 270 miles south of Paris, even as reports emerged of attacks against several mosques around the country, International Business Times reported on Thursday.
There is no evidence to link the restaurant blast with the killings at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine, which took place Wednesday. However, following the attack that killed 12 people, including 10 journalists and two police offices, in Paris, several mosques were targeted on Thursday, according to French security officials. French Muslim groups are urging imams of local mosques to condemn terrorism during Friday prayers.
"I am afraid that is linked to the dramatic event that occurred on Wednesday," the mayor of Villefranche, Perrut Bernardsaid referring to the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo.
The blast occurred around 6 a.m. local time (midnight EST), and blew out the glass windows from the front of the premises and damaged its sign, the paper reported.