ISTANBUL

Egypt’s Al-Azhar University has denounced Thursday's knife attack that killed three people in the French city of Nice.

Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, said in statement: "There is no justification for such heinous terrorist attacks which contradict the tolerant teachings of Islam and all monotheistic religions."

El-Tayeb also warned against rising incidents of violence and hate speech which specifically target the beliefs of people.

"Terrorism has no religion, all Muslims are invited to condemn this criminal act that neither belongs to Islam nor to the peace-loving Prophet [Muhammad]," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, French authorities arrested the attacker who suffered severe injuries and was transferred to the hospital.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara