No Filipino casualty in deadly southern France rampage — DFA

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government on Saturday confirmed no Filipinos were harmed after a gun-wielding extremist went on a rampage Friday in a quiet corner of southern France.

After an hours-long standoff, the 25-year-old attacker was slain as elite police forces stormed the market. They were aided by a heroic police officer who had offered himself up in a hostage swap and suffered life-threatening wounds as a result — one of 16 people injured in the day's violence.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack near Carcassonne, a medieval city beloved by tourists, and the town of Trebes. It was the deadliest attack in France since Emmanuel Macron became president last May.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France today as they mourn those who lost their lives in the terrorist incident in Carcassonne,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement.

“We stand with France and the rest of the world in condemning this incident,” Cayetano added.

Macron said investigators will focus on establishing how the gunman, identified by prosecutors as Moroccan-born Redouane Lakdim, got his weapon, and how he became radicalized.

During the standoff, Lakdim requested the release of Salah Abdeslam, the sole surviving assailant of the Nov. 13, 2015, attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead.

The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the attacker was responding to the group's calls to target countries in the U.S.-led coalition carrying out airstrikes against IS militants in Syria and Iraq since 2014. France has been repeatedly targeted because of its participation. — with a report from the Associated Press