Four months before the Olympic Games, France is once again on maximum alert in the face of the threat of attacks, after the attack on Moscow carried out, according to Emmanuel Macron, by an “entity” of the “Islamic State” group originally of “several recent attempts” on French soil.
As it prepares to organize this global sporting event in Paris from July 26 to August 11, the French government, whose security was already a major concern, wants to show that it takes the threat seriously, while reassuring his ability to control it.
The police, gendarmerie and French intelligence “will be ready” to ensure the security of the Games, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Monday.
The executive decided on Sunday evening, following a Defense Council at the Élysée, to raise the Vigipirate plan to its maximum level, “emergency attack”, just over two months after lowering it. up a notch.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal invoked “the responsibility for the attack” which left 137 dead Friday evening in a concert hall near Moscow “by the Islamic State”, as well as “threats weighing” on France.
An attack which reminded the French of those carried out in November 2015 by commandos from this same jihadist group against the Bataclan, in the middle of a concert, as well as against Parisian café terraces and the Stade de France, leaving 130 dead in total.
In Russia, it is the Afghan branch of the organization, Islamic State in Khorasan (EI-K), which is the first suspect for experts of global terrorism, even if Russian President Vladimir Putin has pointed out responsibility for it. ‘Ukraine.
The “information” that the French intelligence services “have” like that of their “main partners indicates in fact that it was an entity of the Islamic State which instigated this attack and carried it out,” declared President Macron arrived in Guyana on Monday for a two-day visit.
“Instrumentalization”
He warned Moscow against “any instrumentalization” or attempt “to use this context to try to turn it against Ukraine”.
EI-K “which is apparently involved in this attack, had carried out several attempts on our own soil in recent months,” the head of state explained to the press. “And therefore, taking into account its ramifications and its intentions, as a precautionary measure but with credible and solid elements”, it was “decided to raise the posture of Vigipirate”, which had been lowered in January.
Matignon had previously mentioned “several recent attack plans foiled in several European countries, including Germany and France”. “This organization threatens France,” said the head of government’s entourage.
At the request of Gabriel Attal, the Secretary General of Defense and National Security, under his authority, convened a meeting on Monday morning bringing together all the security services called upon to adapt their posture following the increase in the ‘alert.
The government could immediately specify the security system.
In October, Vigipirate had already been raised to the “emergency attack” level after the murder of teacher Dominique Bernard in Arras by a radicalized former student, and up to 7,000 soldiers from the Sentinel force had been mobilized.
The General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) will, for its part, bring together “all intelligence actors” on Thursday morning to “draw all the consequences of the Moscow attack”, announced Gérald Darmanin on Monday.
“We prevent attacks from taking place almost every month,” insisted the Minister of the Interior, noting that “the Islamist threat” could “affect everyone, at any time, not just France”.
In this context, “nearly 130” high schools and colleges have been targeted since last week by threats of attack and “malicious acts” via digital work spaces, the Ministry of Education said on Monday.
The French government intends to mobilize 45,000 members of the internal security forces in the Paris region for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, with elite units. The number of spectators was almost halved, to 326,000 people.