A car exploded outside a synagogue near Paris just hours after Islamist terrorists murdered twelve people in a gun attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The explosion, in the mixed Muslim-Jewish suburb of Sarcelles – the site of violent anti-Semitic demonstrations last summer, during the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas – took place at approximately 2:30 pm local time.
Sarcelles Mayor Francois Pupponi said that the car explosion was an “accidental, unrelated incident” not connected to the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
The Sarcelles synagogue had been targeted over the summer by pro-Palestinian demonstrators who tried to set fire to the building in protest over Israel's policies in Gaza.