France holds security council meeting to strengthen anti-terrorism

(Baonghean.vn) - The Elysee Palace said that on August 17, French President Francois Hollande held a meeting with the country's Security and Defense Council to discuss anti-terrorism and national security measures after a series of recent deadly attacks.

French President Francois Hollande. Photo: Telegraph.

A statement from the French President's office confirmed that Mr Hollande had convened a meeting of the Security Council to discuss measures to protect the country against the terrorist threat and to monitor measures taken across the country this summer.

The meeting also reviewed security measures to be implemented in the fall... In addition, the council also discussed operations against terrorist groups abroad with the participation of the French armed forces.

Meanwhile, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed the goal of establishing a national guard force of 84,000 people in the coming months to ensure security.

France has been in a state of emergency since a series of attacks in Paris in November 2015 that killed 130 people. In July, France decided to extend the state of emergency for another six months until early 2017 after a deadly truck attack in the southern city of Nice that killed 84 people.

Also in late July, two extremists murdered a priest in a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray near the city of Rouen, in the Normandy region of northern France.

In a development related to anti-terrorism operations, on the same day, German police said they had arrested a 27-year-old man suspected of causing explosions at his apartment and planning to attack a festival in the town of Eisenhuettenstadt, eastern Germany.

Focus magazine reported that the arrested person is German and belongs to the Salafist Muslim sect. The police and the Interior Ministry of the German state of Brandenburg have not commented on the information.

Lan Ha

(According to ABCNews)