France raises terror alert warning to highest level

FILE PHOTO: A view shows the Eiffel Tower and rooftops of Paris, France, March 16, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo

PARIS — The French government raised its terror alert warning to its highest level following the shootings in Moscow, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said Sunday after a meeting with senior security and defense officials with President Emmanuel Macron.

Attal said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the decision, which comes months before Paris hosts the Olympic Games, was taken “in light of the Islamic State’s claiming responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats weighing on our country.”

France’s terror alert system has three levels, and the highest level is activated in the wake of an attack in France or abroad or when a threat of one is considered to be imminent.

It allows for exceptional security measures such as stepped-up patrols by armed forces in public places like train stations, airports, and religious sites.

At least 40 people were killed and 145 wounded on Friday, March 22, when camouflage-clad gunmen fired with automatic weapons on concertgoers near Moscow in one of the deadliest attacks on Russia in decades.

READ: Death toll climbs to ‘more than 60’ in Moscow concert attack

A verified video showed people taking their seats in the hall and then rushing for the exits as repeated gunfire echoed above screams. Other videos showed men shooting at groups of people. Some victims lay motionless in pools of blood.

Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Telegram channel said.

Russia said Saturday it had arrested all four gunmen suspected of carrying out the shooting while seven others have been detained.

President Vladimir Putin pledged to track down and punish those behind the attack.

“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” he said.

Russia’s FSB security service said the gunmen had contacts in Ukraine and were captured near the border. It said they were being transferred to Moscow.

Neither Putin nor the FSB publicly presented any proof of a link with Ukraine, with which Russia has been waging war since Moscow invaded 25 months ago. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was typical of Putin and “other thugs” to seek to divert blame.

Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andriy Yusov told Reuters: “Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack. Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russian invaders, liberating its own territory and is fighting with the occupiers’ army and military targets, not civilians.”