<picture class="article__media"> <img src="https://img.lemde.fr/2024/03/25/0/0/4300/2868/664/0/75/0/c9e9335_1711378161759-maxnewsfrfive549415.jpg" alt="Images Le Monde.fr" width="100%" height="auto"> </picture> <noscript> <img src="https://img.lemde.fr/2024/03/25/0/0/4300/2868/664/0/75/0/c9e9335_1711378161759-maxnewsfrfive549415.jpg" alt="French soldiers patrol near the Eiffel Tower as part of the country's anti-terrorism program, Paris, March 25, 2024."> </noscript> <figcaption class="article__legend" aria-hidden="true">French soldiers patrol near the Eiffel Tower as part of the country's anti-terrorism program, Paris, March 25, 2024. CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON / EPA / MAXPPP </figcaption>

The <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/03/25/moscow-attack-flaws-at-the-top-a-scapegoat-abroad_6651340_4.html">attack in Moscow on Friday, March 22</a>, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) organization, was keenly felt in France. Just two days after the attack, a defense council meeting was held at the Elysée Palace to discuss the terrorist threat, against the backdrop of the upcoming Olympic Games in the summer and the growing number of threats against schools. After the meeting, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that because of "the Islamic State having claimed responsibility for the attack and the threats hanging over our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate [France's national security alert system] threat to its highest level."

Arriving on Monday morning in French Guiana, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that, according to the "information" the intelligence services "have," "it was an Islamic State entity that fomented this attack and carried it out." IS Khorasan Province (IS-K) – active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia – was "apparently involved in the attack, [and] had carried out several attempts on our own soil in recent months," said Macron, without disclosing which ones. "In view of its ramifications and intentions, and as a precautionary measure but with credible and solid elements, it has been decided to raise the Vigipirate level," he added.

<div class="catcher__content">Read more Subscribers only <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/03/25/moscow-attack-how-central-asia-became-the-islamic-state-organization-s-new-foothold_6651043_4.html" class="js-article-read-also catcher--favoris__link" data-premium="1">Moscow attack: How Central Asia became the Islamic State organization's new foothold</a> </div>

In Paris, Attal said that "the Islamist terrorist threat is real, it is strong" and that "it has never wavered." "Our mobilization is so that we can face it," "we are acting everywhere to asphyxiate it," with the deployment of "exceptional means across the territory," he added.

Following the raising of the national security alert system to its maximum level, the prime minister announced that 4,000 additional military personnel" were placed "on alert" in addition to the 3,000 already deployed as part of Operation Sentinelle, an anti-terrorist operation activated after the January 2015 attacks in the Paris region.

"Our fight against terrorism is not paid with words. It is very concrete and our hand will never shake in the face of terrorism, never in the face of Islamism," Attal assured, claiming that 45 planned attacks had been foiled since 2017 – and 74 since 2015 – including two since the start of 2024.

According to the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT), the first foiled attack dates back to January 10, when a 22-year-old man was arrested. He was charged with "association with terrorists to prepare crimes against the population," and was remanded in custody. He planned to commit a violent act against a nightclub, the LGBT community or the Jewish community.

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In the wake of the Moscow attack, France has raised the national security alert system to its maximum level. Intelligence services fear an increase in recruitments from Central Asia, targeting young individuals present in France.{ai:summary}French officials raise national security alert after IS claims Moscow attack, deploy additional military personnel to counter terrorism threat. #foreignaffairs