“Given the Islamic State’s claim to responsibility for the attack and the threats facing our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: urgence attentat” (Gabriel Attal).
Four months ahead of the Paris Olympic Games (July 26-August 11), Emmanuel Macron chaired a Defense Council meeting on “the Moscow attack and its consequences” at the Élysée Palace on Sunday evening.
The attack on the Crocus City Hall, a concert venue near Moscow, left at least 137 people dead and over 180 injured on Friday evening. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State, and more specifically by the Islamic State in Khorassan (EI-K) organization, the jihadist branch based in Afghanistan. The latter “accuses the Kremlin of having Muslim blood on its hands, for its actions in Afghanistan, Chechnya or Syria.”
France under threat
On Sunday, Emmanuel Macron chaired a Security Council meeting at the Elysée Palace, at the end of which it was decided to raise the Vigipirate plan to its highest “urgence attentat” alert level.
“In view of the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats hanging over our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: urgence attentat,” said Gabriel Attal on his X account.
Indeed, this terrorist organization has been implicated in several planned attacks, notably in Germany and France.
Given the current context, “the Prime Minister has asked the General Secretary for Defense and National Security, under his authority, to convene a meeting first thing tomorrow, Monday, involving all the security services affected by the increase in the Vigipirate level” announced BFMTV.
À la suite de l’attentat de Moscou, un Conseil de Défense et de Sécurité nationale a été réuni ce soir à l’Elysée par le Président de la République.
Compte tenu de la revendication de l’attentat par l’état islamique et des menaces qui pèsent sur notre pays, nous avons décidé de…
— Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 24, 2024