France’s Prime Minister has demanded tougher anti-terrorism measures after the recent deadly attacks in Paris and that may already be leading to a crackdown on liberties in exchange for greater security.
Police told AP that the weapons used came from abroad, as authorities in several countries searched for possible accomplices and the sources of financing for last week’s attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market, and police. A new suspect was identified in Bulgaria.
“We must not lower our guard, at any time,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls told Parliament on Tuesday, adding that “serious and very high risks remain.”
Lawmakers in the often argumentative chamber lined up overwhelmingly behind the government, giving repeated standing ovations to Mr. Valls’ address and then voted 488-1 to extend French airstrikes against Islamic State extremists in Iraq.
“France is at war against terrorism, jihadism, and radical Islamism,” Mr. Valls declared. “France is not at war against Islam.” He called for increased surveillance of imprisoned radicals and told the interior minister to quickly come up with new security proposals.
French police say as many as six members of the terrorist cell that carried out the Paris attacks may still be at large, including a man seen driving a car registered to the widow of one of the gunmen. The country has deployed 10,000 troops to protect sensitive sites, including Jewish schools and synagogues, mosques and travel hubs. Several people are being sought in connection with the “substantial” financing of the three gunmen behind the terror campaign, said Christophe Crepin, a French police union official. The gunmen’s weapons stockpile came from abroad, and the size of it, plus the military sophistication of the attacks, indicated an organized terror network, he added.
“This cell did not include just those three. We think with all seriousness that they had accomplices, because of the weaponry, the logistics and the costs of it,” Mr. Crepin said. “These are heavy weapons. When I talk about things like a rocket launcher its not like buying a baguette on the corner. It’s for targeted acts.”
All you need to know about the Paris shootings
>Recent security incidents in France
- ›Dec. 1, 2007 - Gunmen suspected of belonging to Basque separatist group ETA kill two Spanish policemen working undercover in France.
- ›Jan. 11, 2009 - Arsonists use fire bombs to attack a synagogue near Paris and a place of worship in Strasbourg.
- ›Nov. 10, 2010 - Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux announces the arrest of five French nationals suspected of conspiring to launch a terror attack in France.
- ›November 2011 - A firebomb attack guts the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo after it put an image of the Prophet Mohammad on its cover.
- ›March 2012 - Mohamed Merah, an al Qaeda-inspired gunman, kills seven people in three separate shootings in Toulouse. Victims included three soldiers of North African origin, a rabbi and his two young children.
- ›December 2014 - A man shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) injures 13 by ramming a vehicle into a crowd in the eastern city of Dijon. Prime Minister Manuel Valls says France has "never before faced such a high threat linked to terrorism".