French police said Wednesday they have detained two suspects in connection with an attack on Jewish youths in Lyon but that the main perpetrator of the assault was still at large.
Two of the three suspects in the attack were placed under formal arrest after turning themselves in to police on Wednesday, Lyon prosecutor Marc Cimamonti told reporters. However, the "main perpetrator" of the attack "remains at large," local police chief Albert Doutre said.
The attack took place on Saturday in Lyon as the three victims, all of them wearing Jewish skullcaps, walked to a Jewish school for the Shabbat service in the east-central city, police said.
A group of people jostled and insulted them “Dirty Jews” then about 10 other assailants armed with hammers and bars joined in, striking the victims.
Two of the youths were struck in the head while the third was hit in the arm, authorities said in Lyon, which has a 20,000-strong Jewish community.
CRIF, the representative body of Jewish groups in France, said it saw a direct link between Saturday's attack and the killing of three Jewish children and a teacher in Toulouse in March by a self-confessed Al-Qaeda follower.
"The link appears unquestionable to me, as we have statistics," said CRIF president Richard Prasquier. "In the weeks that followed (the Toulouse killings), there was a considerable increase in the number of anti-Semitic acts."
The National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism said the attackers in Saturday's incident were of North African origin.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday condemned the assault as "intolerable violence", adding: "We must constantly fight against all forms of anti-Semitism, of racism."

EJP