OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
12:27 PM – Monday, March 25, 2024
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced over the weekend that the country is elevating its security warning to the maximum level after the Moscow, Russia, concert hall attack.
On Sunday, French officials declared that the country is raising its terror alert to its maximum level after the tragic mass shooting at a Moscow concert hall which occurred on Friday.
The French Prime Minister announced the warning on Sunday following a meeting with senior security and defense authorities, which was organized by President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace.
According to Attal, the increased degree of awareness across the nation was appropriate, given the “Islamic State’s claim [that] it was responsible for the attack and the threats weighing on our country.”
Attal made the declaration on X (Twitter) on Sunday evening.
“Following the attack in Moscow, a Defense and National Security Council was convened this evening at the Elysée by the President of the Republic,” Attal wrote.
“Given the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: emergency attack.”
Following Friday’s attack at a Moscow concert venue, which was claimed by the Islamic State terrorist organization and resulted in the deaths of 139 people, France is now on high alert. In the Moscow tragedy, 137 people died on the spot and two others died later in hospitals.
On Monday, Macron announced that French intelligence had verified “an Islamic State entity fomented this attack [in Moscow] and carried it out.”
“This particular group, which is believed to be involved in this attack, has carried out several attempts on our soil in recent months,” the French president stated.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin explained to reporters in Roubaix, northern France, that the “Islamist threat can affect everyone at any moment,” and he added that authorities were foiling threats “almost every month.”
At the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, Darmanin promised that French security services will be prepared to tackle any threats that could arise.
The highest level of France’s three-tiered terror alert system is triggered after an incident, either domestically or internationally. It enables extraordinary security measures, including increased military patrols in public areas like train stations, airports, and places of worship.
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