Paris [France], March 26: After the terrorist attack on a concert venue near Moscow, France has raised its security alert to the highest level, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Attal said the step, which had been taken during a defence and security council meeting called by President Emmanuel Macron, came in light of the terrorist group Islamic Sate claiming responsibility for the attack and the threat to France.
"Given Islamic State claiming responsibility for the attack and the threats hanging over our country, we have decided to raise the raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: urgence attentat," Attal said.
France's terror alert has three levels and the highest alert can be set up immediately after an attack or when an identified and unlocalized terrorist group becomes active.
The highest alert level is imposed for a limited period of time during crisis management. It allows for the exceptional mobilization of resources, but also the dissemination of information that can protect citizens in a crisis situation.
French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month already scaled back the planned capacity of the Olympics opening ceremony scheduled to be held in Paris along the River Siene in July, citing broad concern about Islamic extremists potentially targeting the country, Politico reported.
France was already monitoring an "an atmosphere of jihadism," according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, following the killing of French teacher Dominique Bernard in the northern town of Arras by a suspected Islamic extremist in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, France 24 reported then.
In December, Darmanin warned the country was "durably under threat from Islamist terrorism" after a prosecutor identified a French 26-year-old born to Iranian parents accused of fatally stabbing a German tourist and injuring two others steps away from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
At least 137 people were killed when several gunmen opened fire on concert-goers at the Crocus City Hall in north-west Moscow on Friday evening.
Eleven suspects, including four men believed to have been directly involved in the attack, have been arrested. The four main suspects were reportedly captured in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, and have been brought to Moscow for questioning.
The Islamic State offshoot Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for the attack but Russian authorities have yet to comment on that claim.
Source: Qatar Tribune