Defense Secretary Ash Carter has promised his French counterpart that discussing the devastating Bastille Day truck attack on civilians in Nice will be a top priority at next week’s counter-Islamic State summit outside Washington.
Defense ministers and other senior leaders from 34 nations of the counter-Islamic State coalition as well as from NATO countries are to meet at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland next Wednesday.
Carter called French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian Friday morning to offer condolences and express solidarity with the long-time ally, according to a Pentagon statement.
Carter and Le Drian agreed to discuss the “attack and the response to it at the summit next week, which was called to discuss the next steps in the military campaign and the requirements needed to further accelerate the defeat of ISIL.”
So far, the Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the attack, in which Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old delivery truck driver born in Tunisia, drove a large truck through a crowd of celebrants, killing 84, and injuring more than 200.
