Terrorism threat in France remain ‘extremely high’

France’s Interior Minister has warned that French security authorities are monitoring more than 8,000 people suspected of terrorist leanings.

As the trial of 14 suspected helpers in the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks begins, Gerald Darmanin said that ‘the risk of terror of Sunni origin is the main threat our country is facing’. On a visit to the DGSI, France's domestic security service, Darmanin said that 32 planned terrorist attacks had been foiled since 2017.

Noting that there were troubling signs of far-right activity in the country as well, the Interior Minister said that the threat of terrorist attacks ‘remains extremely high in the country’.

More than 250 people were killed in terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016, most of which were claimed by ISIS.

The trial of 14 alleged accomplices in a spate of attacks from 7-9 January 2015, starting with an assault on the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, is set to begin. The suspects are to be tried on several charges, including terrorist conspiracy and complicity in murder.

Other linked attacks were the shooting of a policewoman and the siege of a Jewish supermarket. Altogether 17 people were killed in the attacks in the Ile de France region around Paris.

Darmanin called the upcoming trial ‘historic’.