The French police described the scene as a "vision of horror".

Christian Estrosi, the Mayor of Nice, said the attacker had repeated "Allahu Akbar" several times while he was being arrested and handcuffed by police.

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Estrosi said a woman victim had been decapitated but he had no details of how the two others were killed.

"We have two people killed inside the church … and a third person who was in a bar facing the church where she had taken refuge. Enough is enough … we have to remove this Islamo-fascism from our territory", the Mayor added.

The incident comes two weeks after the horrific killing of 47-year-old teacher, Samuel Paty, by a refugee Islamist terrorist after cartoons of Prophet Mohammed were shown by Paty to his students in a class on freedom of speech.

"Before it was a school professor, this time the Islamo-fascist barbarism chose to attack inside a church. Again, it is very symbolic," Estrosi added.

This is not the first time Nice has come under attack. In 2016, a Tunisian named Mohammed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a 19 tonne cargo truck into the crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day. Eighty-six people were killed and more than 400 injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

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