France on 'very high' alert for possible terrorist threat on New Year's Eve

Ehren Wynder
·2 min read
23
UPI
An estimated 1.5 million people are expected to attend the New Year's Eve celebration at the Champs-Elysees. French authorities fear the celebration could be the target of a terrorist plot in light of the conflict in Gaza. Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI

Dec. 29 (UPI) -- French police are tightening security measures on New Year's Eve in anticipation of a "very high terrorist threat."

France's Domestic Intelligence Chief Celine Berthon said Friday there will be increased security measures nationwide, including the deployment of 90,000 police officers, on New Year's Eve.

An estimated 1.5 million people are expected to attend the New Year's Eve celebrations on the Champs-Elysees. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Paris plans to deploy 6,000 police officials to ensure security during the celebrations. Officers will be permitted to use drones for the first time as part of the operation.

Darmanin attributed the high likelihood of a terrorist plot to the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

France has been on high alert for days after a number of thwarted ISIS plots targeting Europe. Counterterrorism experts said the group is taking advantage of the conflict in Gaza to rally support for its own cause.

Police already have made a number of arrests in France, Spain, Austria and Germany during the Christmas period, and five people were apprehended last week in northern France as part of an investigation into a terrorist plot.

The heightened state of security in France comes as German police are planning one of their largest security operations in Berlin. In light of the Middle East conflict, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she was "concerned that New Year's Eve could once again be a day on which we experience blind rage and senseless violence."

Some 4,000 police are expected to be deployed throughout Berlin, and local officers will be supported by officers drafted in from other parts of the country on New Year's Eve.