Macron: the group that took over the massacre in Moscow was behind attempts in France

The Islamic State of Khorasan, which has claimed responsibility for the Moscow massacrewith at least 137 deaths, has been “in recent months” behind “several attempts” to attack on French soil, the President of France stated this Monday. Emmanuel Macronfrom French Guiana.

Macron added that taking into account the “ramifications” and “intentions” of the Islamic State of Khorasan, the maximum alert has been established in France “as a precautionary measure.”

In a statement at the beginning of a visit to that overseas territory in South America, the French president indicated that the decision, made on Sunday, is based on “credible and solid elements.”

For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced that a meeting of the secret services will be organized on Thursday “to draw out all the consequences” for France of what is known about the attack in a concert hall in Moscow on last Friday.

It is about preventing attacks by jihadist groups that not only send their own commandos but also remotely incite other people to act on their behalf.

After indicating that the secret services of France and those of its main international partners agree in attributing responsibility for Friday’s attack in the Russian capital to that entity of the Islamic State that has its bases in Central Asia, Macron urged Russia to beware of ” any instrumentalization or deformation and be demanding and effective.”

”It would be both cynical and counterproductive for Russia and the security of its citizens to use this context” against Ukraine, he stressed.

Asked if he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he pointed out that “at first, contacts have been established at all levels, technical and ministerial, to be able to propose our (anti-terrorist) cooperation.” Taking into account the information that our secret services have and the elements that may be useful to the Russians, it will be done at that level.”

Darmanin insisted that the Moscow attack was the work of the Islamic State, which, he said, is the “enemy” of France, and stressed that what happened on Friday shows that “all countries” are targeting it, including those that They have “a stronger legal and security arsenal” than the French and “with less attention to individual freedoms,” in an obvious allusion to Russia.

The maximum level of terrorist alert in France means, first of all, a greater number of patrols by law enforcement and the military of the Sentinelle mission in particularly sensitive places such as stations, shopping centers or spaces with a large flow of people. .

The Vigipirate plan against terrorism was launched in December 2016 after the wave of attacks that the country suffered in 2015-2016 and since then this is the fourth time that the maximum alert has been activated.

The last one had been in October 2023 after the attack in which history teacher Dominique Bernard was murdered in his own high school in the city of Arras by a former student who was precisely of Russian origin, from a Caucasian republic.

These days, France receives many tourists from neighboring countries where there are school holidays for Easter, such as Spain or Italy. In the coming weeks, various religious celebrations for Catholics, Muslims and Jews are scheduled and, above all, the Olympic Games begin in four months. from Paris.

Security, and in particular the terrorist threat, is one of the great challenges of the Macron Government in the face of these Games that will take place from July 26 to August 11.

Since January 2015, 24 terrorist attacks have been carried out in France and nearly fifty have been thwarted, according to official figures.