WEB DESK /
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, has cautioned his countrymen saying France remains a target for terror and the country may suffer new attacks. He said the threat is maximal.
In a interview with Europe 1 radio and Itele television on Sunday, Valls said he is telling the truth to the French people. He said every day intelligence services, police and gendarmerie are thwarting attacks and dismantling Iraqi-Syrian networks.
He said almost 700 terrorists — French or French residents are fighting in Iraq and Syria. The Premier said there were 15,000 people on the radar of police and intelligent services who were in the process of being radicalised. Earlier, in an interview to a newspaper, former President Sarkozy said, France needed to get tough on militants by creating special courts and detention facilities to boost security. Prime Minister Valls, however, said proposals by Sarkozy to boost security was not the right way to deal with threats.
France has been under a state of emergency since Islamic State group attacks on Paris in November last year in which 130 people were killed. President Francois Hollande had called the attack an act of war leading to imposition of emergency in the country. However, a recent commission of inquiry found the state of emergency was only having a “limited impact” on improving security.
It also questioned the deployment of between 6,000 and 7,000 soldiers to protect schools, synagogues, department stores and other sensitive sites.