Anti-terror police are patrolling French Alpine ski villages because of concerns that they may be subject to a jihadist attack.
With thousands of international tourists enjoying France’s ski resorts at this time of year, security officers have reportedly been seen in airports, bars, nightclubs and restaurants. It is understood their patrols are part of Operation Sentinel, France’s crackdown on terror.
France remains on high alert as a result of a string of fatal incidents in recent years including the Paris atrocity of November 2015, in which 130 people were murdered, and last year’s Bastille Day attack in Nice in which an Islamic fundamentalist drove a truck into crowds of people, killing 86 civilians.
Will Geddes, a security expert from the International Corporate Protection agency, said: “The military and police presence has been flooded right across France. They are particularly concerned about any location where there’s going to be a congregation of international visitors. It could be a tourist area or one seen as a soft target. Bearing in mind it’s peak ski season, officials want to make sure there is a heightened security presence.”
Earlier this month, a soldier shot and wounded a machete-wielding attacker who lunged at him outside the Louvre museum in Paris shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great).
