France, Feb. 22 -- Foreign affairs minister Jean-Noel Barrot was reacting to a statement by the State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau, which posted on X that "reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all".

Deranque, a far-right activist, died of brain injuries last week from a beating in the French city of Lyon. He was attacked during a brawl on the margins of a student meeting where Rima Hassan, an MP with the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), was a keynote speaker.

His killing highlighted a climate of deep political tensions ahead of municipal elections in March, and next year's presidential vote.

French President Emmanuel Macroncalled ...