Truck attack in Nice reflects 'new normal' for Europe

European leaders and security chiefs have a sobering message after the Bastille Day killings in Nice: such lone attacks using ordinary vehicles are nearly impossible to prevent and can be carried out by almost anyone.

"We have moved into a new era," said Prime Minister Manuel Valls. "And France will have to live with terrorism."

His Belgian counterpart, Charles Michel, said in Brussels -- where Islamic State militants staged attacks in March and where they planned last November's Paris attacks -- that "zero risk does not exist."

"We are now faced with a different modus operandi," he said in the Belgian capital which, like cities in France, is still on a state of high alert with troops and heavily armed police on the streets and on guard at major public events.

Belgium has anticipated such risks, Michel said, and is ready to protect its own national day festivities next Thursday.

A local, 31-year-old, Tunisian-born Frenchman with a record of violence but unknown to counter-terrorism agencies drove the rented heavy truck for 2 km (1.5 miles) along the palm-fringed Promenade des Anglais seafront, which was closed to traffic and thronged with thousands of revelers watching fireworks.

"What can you do against this?" Andre Jacob, former head of counter-terrorism at Belgium's State Security service told Reuters. "It's impossible to prevent. Even if there were clues."

That the attacker could run over and kill 84 people reflects not only the surprise, the density of the crowds and the lethal weight and speed of the vehicle, creating a far deadlier impact than many similar ramming attacks. It also speaks to a lack of barriers on the road and the limited firepower of the police on duty.

Some 25 bullet holes spattered the windshield of the truck, standing where it stopped and the driver was shot dead.

The glass had not shattered. There was no indication it was armoured, so it appeared to have been hit mainly by police officers armed with standard issue pistols rather than the high-power automatic rifles carried by troops and sued by some police during emergencies.

"We're not in the United States, we're not in cowboy country," Jacob said, underlining that security forces on the scene would have had limited time to react and then had to try to hit a fast-moving target without killing innocent people.

"It's right the police have weapons for use in the city and don't wander around with Kalashnikovs (assault rifles) and grenades and so on."