CAIRO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Top Egyptian officials condemned Friday terrorist attack in the French city Nice which killed 84 people and cautioned that terror attacks at crowds have constituted IS new strategy.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian expert on terrorism said that France has become an easy open area for terrorist acts.
He stressed that the attack in Nice resembles suicide features of the IS new strategy know as "Lone Wolf," upon which the attacker seeks the best moments in crowds to harvest many victims' souls.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Friday condemned with the strongest terms the attack, expressing heartfelt condolences to his French counterpart Francois Hollande and the French government and people in a statement issued by the Egyptian Presidency.
The death toll rose to 84 from the attack in which a truck rammed into a crowd marking the French national day in Nice.
With 18 people remaining in critical condition, the death toll could rise.
Sisi also voiced full solidarity of Egypt with all international efforts that are aimed at fighting terrorism that is not restricted to a certain border or religion.
Additionally, the parliament speaker has called for urgent moves for holding an international conference on combating terrorism.
Meanwhile, the Sunni Islam's leading seat of learning Al-Azhar on Friday condemned the deadly attack as saying "these vile terrorist attacks contradict Islamic teachings."
"Al-Azhar affirms the necessity of uniting efforts to defeat terrorism and rid the world of its evil," the Cairo-based institution said in a statement.
The Foreign Ministry of Egypt has also condemned in the strongest terms the "appalling attack."
"These despicable terrorist acts, which indiscriminately target persons regardless of their religion or nationality, only aim at terrorizing innocent civilians and conquering humanity in all its forms," the statement said.
These acts will only increase the international community's strength to combat the scourge of obnoxious terrorism, the statement added.
Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul-Gheit denounced the attack as "cowardly."
"This despicable crime showed that terrorism continues to cross all red lines as it targets innocent people through unprecedented acts of brutality," the head Pan-Arab body said in a statement.
He stressed the necessity of immediately unifying international efforts to fight terrorism via taking more effective and strict measures.
Police sources said the perpetrator, shot dead after opening fire at the police, was a 31-year-old Franco-Tunisian man whose identity papers were found in the vehicle and who was previously known to police for minor criminal offenses.
"France is a very convenient place for planning and carrying out fast and simple operations," said Samir Ghatas, head of Cairo-based Middle East Forum for Strategic and Security Affairs.
Tunisians constitute the majority of the migrants in France, and also most of the Islamic State affiliates are of Tunisian origins, he said.
"Most of the Islamic State members have relatives or family members in France, which makes the country readily penetrable," Ghatas explained.
Despite the supportive policies France took towards the Arab nations and the Palestinian cause, the IS main project is to expand their influence and establish Caliphate regardless of defending any Arab issues, the expert said.
