Louvre attack, France: Warning of new terrorist methods

The terrorist attack at the underground shopping mall Caroussel du Louvre, located right next to the entrance to the famous Louvre museum in central Paris, did not cause serious consequences but raised notable alarm bells.

Security forces at the scene after an attack near the famous Louvre museum in central Paris. Photo: Reuters.

The terrorist used a knife to attack a group of French soldiers patrolling the area. One soldier was slightly injured before the terrorist was shot and seriously injured by another soldier. The incident had the clear characteristics of a terrorist attack carried out by radical Islamists because the attacker shouted “Allahou Akbar” (God is great) as he attacked the soldiers with two knives in his hands.

Initial investigations by French security agencies showed that the attacker was an Egyptian national, about 29 years old, who had just entered France on January 26 after applying for a visa from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The attacker arrived in France on January 26 and planned to leave France on February 5.

Investigations revealed that the attacker rented an apartment in the 8th arrondissement of Paris for 1,700 euros for a week and also rented a car to get around. In addition, based on the weapons recovered at the scene, French investigators also discovered that the terrorist bought two large knives for 680 euros on January 28, just 2 days after arriving in Paris, at a store in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.

However, the fact that the terrorist had only entered France a few days ago and had prepared a crude weapon on the spot left the French police completely stumped in their search for the terrorist's origins. This name is completely absent from any security monitoring records of France or other EU countries.

Currently, because this person is also seriously injured after being shot by French soldiers, French authorities cannot determine whether this person acted alone or had accomplices or received instructions from a terrorist network.

However, this terrorist attack has made security concerns for France even more serious at a time when there are less than 3 months left until the 2017 French presidential election officially takes place.

French security experts analyzed that after three bloody terrorist attacks in France in 2015 and 2016, extremist terrorist groups are now changing their methods to avoid close monitoring by French security forces.

Instead of using bombs or suicides to commit terrorism, now individual elements are ready to commit crimes with only rudimentary and common means. The terrorist attack in Nice on July 14, 2016 used a truck and the attack at the Louvre museum on the morning of February 3 used rudimentary weapons such as knives.

This raises the ever-present threat of extremists using any means to cause harm, something European security agencies warned in a report released in November 2016, saying that terrorist groups such as IS are changing the way they carry out attacks.

For France, the attack at the Louvre museum targeting army soldiers patrolling in the “Sentinelle” operation is a warning that from now until the French presidential election in a few months, security risks remain the biggest challenge threatening France’s stability./.

According to VOV