A French army soldier patrols Gare du Nord station in Paris, Monday Jan. 14, 2013. France has ordered tightened security in public buildings and transport following action against radical Islamists both in Mali and Somalia.(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
A French army soldier patrols Gare du Nord station in Paris, Monday Jan. 14, 2013. France has ordered tightened security in public buildings and transport following action against radical Islamists both in Mali and Somalia.(AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
A British pilot stands between a French army truck and a medical armoured personnel carrier inside a British C17 transport plane prior to take off at the army base in Evreux, 90 kms(56 mls)north of Paris, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. Britain over the weekend authorized sending two C-17 transport planes to help France bring more troops to Mali. The United States is sending drones, as well as communications and logistical support. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French President Francois Hollande chairs a meeting focusing on the situation in Mali next to his military chief of staff Benoit Pugat, right, and General Secretary of the Elysee presidential palace, Pierre-Rene Lemas, left partially hidden, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, at the Elysee palace in Paris. French military forces on Monday widened their bombing campaign against Islamic extremists occupying northern Mali, launching airstrikes for the first time in central Mali to combat a new threat as the four-day-old offensive continued to grow. (AP Photo/Kenzo Tribouillard, Pool)
A public transport minibus is stopped by Malian soldiers at a checkpoint at the entrance to Markala, approximately 40 km outside Segou on the road to Diabaly, in central Mali, Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. Despite intensive aerial bombardments by French warplanes, Islamist insurgents grabbed more territory in Mali on Monday and got much closer to the capital, French and Malian authorities said. In the latest setback, the al-Qaida-linked extremists overran the garrison village of Diabaly in central Mali, France's defense minister said in Paris.(AP Photo/Harouna Traore)
PARIS (AP) ? France is fully prepared to prevent terror attacks from "an internal enemy and an external enemy" in response to its military operation to push back al-Qaida-linked insurgents in Mali, the country's top security official said Tuesday.
Since the operation in Mali began on Friday, armed French soldiers have been on guard in subways, train stations and some of the world's most recognizable monuments, reinforcing already tight security with a far more visible presence. Interior Minister Manuel Valls said France is well aware of the dangers of terror attacks, but believed the threat posed by the advance of the militant Islamist fighters was far greater.
Declaring France had "opened the gates of hell" with its assault, the rebels from the Sahel desert region that includes Mali threatened retribution on Monday.
"France is watching individuals who want to go to Afghanistan, Syria and the Sahel. We're watching those who could return here," Valls told the French television network BFM. "We're facing an exterior enemy and an interior enemy."
He said France had already fallen victim to attacks in recent months, referring to a French-born radical Islamist Mohammad Merah who targeted French soldiers and a Jewish school in the south, and a group of men accused of firebombing a kosher grocer in September.
The French government late last year passed a law barring citizens from training for terrorism abroad in response to the deadly attacks in the south by Merah, who received paramilitary training in Pakistan.
Marc Trevidic, a French judge who has investigated terrorism cases, said he was not worried about the threat of attacks in the short term.
"The Malian Islamists currently have other priorities than carrying out a terrorist attack in France," he told Le Parisien newspaper. But long term, he said, the threat is very real, especially given how easy it is to travel between France and Mali. "With this military intervention, we're on the front lines. Suddenly, France is a priority target."
Some 100,000 Malians are residents of France, and there are regular direct flights between Mali's capital, Bamako, and Paris.
Associated Presskellie pickler costa rica kevin hart living social Earthquake Costa Rica Clinton speech Michael Strahan
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.