2024-07-17 23:23:00
Ten days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris (from July 26 to August 11), the majority of the French people expressed great concern about the security of this event, according to the latest survey of the “French security“made for everyday life”With Figaro“.
The survey shows that 68% of French people say they are concerned about safety in tourist places and public transport, whether buses, the metro or trains.
Three weeks ago, the number of public transport security patrols in Île-de-France (Paris region) tripled, from 100 to 300. According to the newspaper, 700 patrols will be ready during the Olympics, with a peak of 850 on July 26, the day of the opening ceremony.
However, the French do not feel at ease: 65% of them say they are uncomfortable with the idea of going to fan zones, where around 50,000 people are expected. The survey says that most incidents are feared at stadium entrances (58%) and inside the sports facilities themselves (53%).
The French are also afraid of pickpockets (92%), theft (88%), theft of luggage in hotels and even sexual assaults (60%), according to the survey which questioned a sample of 1,005 people.
Although all eyes will be on the Olympic venues from the evening of July 26, around half of French people (48%) also fear that the focus will be on summer festivals and tourist sites in the rest of the country.
More than 80% of them fear that the security problems experienced by tourists will damage the image of France and its capital in the world.
Concerns were raised due to the injury of a French soldier, who was shot during an anti-terrorist patrol in the Gare de l’Est area of Paris last Monday. The soldier was injured, according to the Minister of Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
According to sources close to the investigation, the attacker hovered around the soldier and his colleagues for 20 minutes before shouting ” God is great ” in French and attacked the soldier from behind with a knife, stabbing him before the soldier’s colleagues could stop him.
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced on the platform “X” the injured soldier’s life was not in danger, and a police source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the soldier was injured in the shoulder.
The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, expressed his solidarity with “the soldier who was injured at the Gare de l’Est during Operation Sentinel” and added: “Support and recognition of our armed forces who participate more than ever in the security of the French“.
Sentinelle is a French military operation deployed after the attacks of 7, 8 and 9 January 2015, to address the threat of terrorism throughout the country and to “points” sensitive. Since then, patrols of heavily armed soldiers have been part of the daily life of Parisians.
This incident occurs less than two weeks before the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris, which will take place from July 26 to August 11, with an unprecedented mobilization of security forces in France.
Police forces have been training for a number of possible attack scenarios during the global event, including the presence of an armed man on board a boat in Paris full of tourists, as well as a situation where three people become hostile at least bulk stocking course. the board of the boat.
In every situation in which the elite unit trains, the main priority is to save the lives of the passengers, then verify the reality of the threat and, if necessary, neutralize it and stop the attacker. If he cannot be caught, members of the unit train to try to neutralize the attackers.
For the opening ceremony, scheduled for July 26, three specialized intervention forces will be mobilized: the elite unit, specialized in maritime skills on the Seine, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, specialized in aerial skills, and the Research and Intervention Brigade, known as. for his land interventions.
If security developments require strengthening the plan, the elite unit will also be assembled before the opening ceremony, to “comb“part of the Seine, which means divers will have to examine the bottom of the river and make sure it’s free of any bombs, mines or munitions.
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