Islamist terror once again hit France on Friday. While the threat is at its highest level for several weeks, a man broke into a high school in Arras (Pas-de-Calais) on Friday morning. This Caucasian man named S killed a literature teacher with a knife while shouting "Allah Akbar". Two people were also seriously injured. Following this new tragedy, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne "has decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to the level of an attack emergency," Matignon said, after a security meeting at the Élysée Palace chaired by Emmanuel Macron.
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The "attack emergency" level is the highest level of the Vigipirate plan. It can be set up in the aftermath of an attack or if an identified and unlocated terrorist group takes action. It allows the authorities to "exceptionally mobilize resources" in many areas, whether for the investigation or for the search for possible suspects, accomplices or assailants. In October 2018, during the attack on the Strasbourg Christmas market, which left five dead and eleven injured, the perpetrator, Chérif Chekatt, was hounded by the authorities for more than 48 hours, before being shot dead in the Neudorf district.
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'Exceptional measures'
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This level is set up for a limited period of time: the time of crisis management. It also makes it possible (...) to disseminate information likely to protect citizens in a crisis situation," says the Vigipirate website. It provides for "exceptional measures to alert the population" and "exceptional measures to prevent any risk of imminent attack or further attack". The system, which has been updated since the wave of terrorist attacks in 2015-2016, also leads to the implementation of reinforced border controls. Part of the plan is classified as "defence confidential" and can only be consulted by state institutions and certain private operators.
In an extremely abrasive context of conflict between Hamas and Israel, the terrorist threat is more relevant than ever in France. On Thursday, Emmanuel Macron announced the mobilization of 10,000 police and gendarmes and soldiers from Operation Sentinel to ensure the safety of the French. That of places of worship, synagogues in particular, has also been greatly strengthened.
The areas of action of the Vigipirate plan. Ministry of the Interior