High alert remains in France

France remains on high security alert, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said yesterday after a meeting at the Elysee Palace with French President Francois Hollande.
Special security provisions are to be implemented for a march today, at which various heads of state from across Europe are expected to attend.
France will deploy some 500 extra military personnel in the greater Paris region, the defence ministry said yesterday, the day after twin sieges sowed fear on the streets of the capital.
“We will this morning announce a reinforcement of 500 additional military personnel, in two waves in Ile de France,” said the ministry, referring to Paris and the immediate surrounding areas.
French police yesterday continued searching for a female suspect linked to the Paris attackers.
The US government issued a “worldwide caution” notice for its citizens yesterday, after French police killed three gunmen who had terrorised Paris.
“Recent terrorist attacks, whether by those affiliated with terrorist entities, copycats, or individual perpetrators, serve as a reminder that US citizens need to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness,” the State Department said. It urged people to be wary both “in the United States and abroad”, wherever US citizens gather in large numbers such as tourist attractions, sporting events and shopping malls.
A Sunni cleric claimed credit for the killings of journalists in Paris and warned of more attacks “in Britain, America and others” who are part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State militia.
The State Department warned of an “increased likelihood of reprisal attacks” against the US and its coalition partners – of which France is one – that are seeking to stem the Islamic State onslaught in Iraq and Syria. It cited the threats issued by the extremists calling on supporters “to attack foreigners wherever they are”.
The attacks in France that took the lives of 17 people have heightened concerns in Europe about radicals who train and fight with terrorist groups in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, then return home to carry out attacks.
Meanwhile, the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has threatened France with more attacks if it does not stop fighting Islam and its symbols.
Top AQAP cleric Harith al-Nadhari praised the slain assailants in France, saying in an audio message broadcast on the pro-AQAP online broadcaster al-Malahem they were “soldiers who do not fear death”.
A cleric from the Sunni extremist militia Islamic State on Friday also claimed that the group was responsible for the Charlie Hebdo attack.