Roundup: Terror attack in France draws condemnations from other countries

Several countries have condemned Friday's deadly terror attack on a U.S. gas factory in southeast France and extended condolences to relatives of the dead and the wounded.

French President Francois Hollande has returned home early from an European Union summit after the suspected Islamist attack, which left one person dead and two others injured.

"The president saw the first images of the attack on the 24-news channels with German Chancellor Angela Merkel beside him, who was visibly shocked," said a French official spokesman.

Hollande, who canceled his meeting with Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Brussels, said that the assault, in which a severed head was pinned to the factory's gates, was a terrorist attack.

Merkel showed solidarity with Hollande following the attack, and expressed her condolences for the victims.

"In these hours, our thoughts are with the relatives of the victims, and we hope that those injured can recover as quickly as possible," she said.

The attack makes it clear how large a challenge the fight on terrorism is, she added.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his country stands united with France against "terror's blind hate" and in defense of "free society."

Steinmeier said he was appalled by the "shocking news of a heinous murder and an assault with several injured," calling it an "act of terror and fanaticism which we condemn in the strongest terms."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain's COBRA emergency response committee would meet later on Friday to discuss the attack in France and a terror assault on the same day in the Tunisian resort of Sousse that has left at least 27 people dead.

He expressed his solidarity with the French people over the assault. "This is a threat that faces all of us, these events ... can happen anywhere -- we all face this threat," Cameron told reporters.

"We have to deal with this poisonous radical narrative that is turning so many young minds and we have to combat it with everything we have," Cameron added.

Spain also condemned the attack and vowed to stay united with France against "barbarism."

"I firmly condemn the attack carried out in Lyon. Barbarism will always be confronted by unity among democrats," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy wrote in a message on Twitter.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama has been briefed on the attack at the U.S. gas company in France, a senior White House official said on Friday, providing no further details.

In the attack, an assailant rammed a delivery van into gas containers in the factory, triggering an explosion. An Islamic State (IS) flag was found at the scene, French media reported Friday. Endi