PARIS: The attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 130 people has raised fresh security fears for the Paris Olympics, leading France’s interior minister to promise Monday that police and intelligence services would be “ready”.
The government upgraded the country’s terror threat level to its maximum on Sunday, with France a frequent target of the Islamic State (IS) group which has claimed responsibility for Friday’s bloodshed in the Russian capital.
President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the IS entity believed to be behind the killings — known as Khorasan, which is a branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan — had also sought to attack France.
“This particular group made several attempts (at attacks) on our own soil,” Macron told reporters after arriving on a trip to the French South American region of French Guiana.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26, were an obvious future target.
“France, because we defend universal values, and are for secularism... is particularly threatened, notably during extraordinary events such as the Olympics,” he told reporters.
“The French police, gendarmes, prefects, intelligence services, will be ready,” he added, saying that “we have a very effective intelligence system. We stop plots developing almost every month.”
The heads of intelligence services would hold a meeting on Thursday “to discuss all the conclusions of the attack on Moscow,” he added.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that 4,000 extra soldiers would be deployed nationwide in the days to come. “The terrorist threat is real, it’s strong,” he told reporters, adding that two plots had been thwarted already this year. At least 137 people were killed when gunmen stormed Moscow’s Crocus City Hall on Friday evening before setting the building on fire.
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