Paris, Oct 16 (IANS): French President Francois Hollande presided over a national ceremony paying homage to the 86 victims in the July 14 truck attack in Nice, calling for unity to combat terrorism.

The ceremony took place in Nice on Saturday in the presence of the victims' families, injured people, the country's main political leaders and Nice local officials.

The names of the 86 victims were read out and one white rose was placed for each of them during the ceremony.

"What has been struck on July 14 is national unity, unleash violence to unborn division, spark fear to fuel stigma. No, this evil business will fail," Xinhua news agency quoted Hollande as saying.

Meanwhile, the French president warned that the "war (against terrorism) will be long" and "the threat remains high, more than ever."

On July 14, 2016, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian-born delivery man with his truck careered around 2 km through the crowd before being shot dead by police units. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.