France ‘protects’ thousands of churches
French police don’t want a terrorist attack similar to what happened in Moscow
French Police officers patrol before the Saint-Maclou Cathedral ahead of the arrival of French Minister of the Interior and Overseas in Pontoise, north of Paris, on 31 March 2024, as part of a visit on the theme of the security of Christian places of worship during the Easter celebrations.
Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT / AFP
PARIS (AFP) — France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Sunday said 13,500 police and anti-terror soldiers had been deployed outside 4,530 churches to protect them against any “terrorism” as they celebrate Easter.
“Law enforcement forces are present everywhere nationwide from Good Friday to Easter Monday to protect services in an extremely difficult context in which terrorism could hit,” he said.
“There are 13,500 police officers, gendarmes and (anti-terror) military personnel at 4,350 Christian places of worship, Catholic and Protestant,” he added.
France has raised its security alert to the highest level after an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group at a concert hall in the Russian capital on 22 March claimed 144 lives.
France has been rocked by a series of deadly jihadist attacks in recent years.
Two planned attacks have been foiled since the start of the year.
One involved “violent action against a Catholic religious building” by a man “clearly committed to jihadist ideology,” according to the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office.
The 62-year-old was arrested and remanded in custody in early March, prosecutors said.
Catholics and Protestants are commemorating the resurrection of Jesus this Sunday, while Orthodox Christians will wait until 6 May.
Meanwhile, France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has slammed “unacceptable acts” against the Muslim community after a boar head was found near a mosque in the east of the country.
A prosecutor said a probe into “incitement to racial hatred” had been opened after worshippers at a mosque in the village of Contrexeville in the Vosges region discovered the animal’s head on Friday.
Darmanin late Saturday said that two other mosques in northern France had also been “degraded.”
“This weekend mosques in Valenciennes and Fresnes-sur-Escaut were degraded. A mosque in the Vosges was also targeted. I firmly condemn these unacceptable acts against our Muslim compatriots,” he said on X.
The incidents come during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during which believers fast from dawn till dusk and focus on prayers.