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THE US STATE Department has issued a warning to Americans about a heightened risk of terrorist attacks in Europe during the festive period.
It noted that terrorist attacks have taken place in Belgium, France, Germany and Turkey in the past year, but said it was concerned about the potential for attacks throughout Europe.
In a statement, it said:
“US citizens should exercise caution at holiday festivals, events, and outdoor markets.”
It added:
Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events.
“US citizens should exercise vigilance when attending large holiday events, visiting tourist sites, using public transportation, and frequenting places of worship, restaurants, hotels, etc,” the statement said.
“Be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid large crowds, when possible.”
French arrests
The US warning comes after French police said last night they prevented a terror plot by breaking up a terror ring over the weekend.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that seven suspects of Afghan, Morrocan and French origin were arrested in Strasbourg and Marseille.
The arrests “enabled us to prevent a long-planned terror attack on our soil,” Cazeneuve told a televised news conference.
He said the investigation would show whether “the foiled attack was a coordinated attack aiming to target several sites simultaneously on our soil.”
The raids were carried out on Saturday night and Sunday morning in the eastern city of Strasbourg and Marseille in the south following an eight-month investigation by security services.
“Credible information made these arrests necessary,” one security source told AFP earlier, asking not to be named because they were not authorised to speak on the case.
Euro 2016
Cazeneuve linked the arrests to raids carried out shortly before the Euro 2016 football championship hosted by France in June.
The country remains in a state of emergency a year after attacks by Islamic State jihadists on Paris that left 130 people dead.
Cazeneuve said 418 people had been arrested for suspected links to terror networks since the start of the year.
Strasbourg has been on high alert ahead of the opening of its Christmas market, with local officials warning it could be suspended or cancelled if there were serious threats.
Irish warnings
The latest travel advisory for France from Department of Foreign Affairs here says travellers should exercise “a high degree of caution” in the country. The same warning applies for Belgium.
Irish citizens to Turkey are being urged to consider that “the security environment remains potentially volatile” in the country, and to exercise a high level of caution.
With reporting from Daragh Brophy and - © AFP, 2016
If what they UK is planning to do is legal as they claim then surely they should not fear anyone taking a case against it?
Of course we all suspect that its not legally sound.
@Larry O Reilly: Yes, send all those Ukrainians home!
@Kevin Farrell: no one mentioned Ukrainian only you difference in people fleeing a war or economical refugee looking for a free ride
@Larry O Reilly: Exactly – no one mentioned Ukrainians. I guess the difference is they have white skin, whereas the other people fleeing war and persecution have brown or black skin.
The Raj is still alive in Britain.
How bloody dare do those lawyers check if it’s legal! Outrageous!
Typical Johnson nothing but a bully
The Raj is still alive in Britain.
The Raj is still alive in Britain.
@Don Hogan: heard u first time
@Don Hogan: It’s naff all to do with “the Raj”. Britain has had enough of these illegal migrants. The French appear to encourage their passage across the water. None of them can possibly be genuine refugees, otherwise they would have stayed in the first safe country to the one they have fled from.
There are about 67 million people living on mainland Britain. There is barely 6 million here.
Where is the UK supposed to house all these people? The UK has a housing crisis as does this country. Imagine thousands of migrants landing on the shores of Ireland, week in week out!
@Ally Collyer: So basically you want Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy to be a buffer between the Middle East/Africa and Britain? You do realise that puts a tremendous strain on said Med nations to have to manage all refugees fleeing whatever disaster/persecution in their home countries. Why shouldn’t the Brits have to do their part, just because of geography? They took more than their fair share from most of the world’s nations when they had an empire, and left them in worse shape because of it.
@Ally Collyer: That’s a terrible way to treat Ukrainian’s fleeing the war. And just because they didn’t stay in the first safe country the arrived in after leaving Ukraine!
@Ally Collyer: For arguments sake, let’s consider them as economic migrants, not refugees. Migrants have a net economic benefit for industrialised economies by boosting the working age population and pay more in taxes than they recieve in benefits (OECD). Housing crises are caused by not building enough housing. I suspect the main reason they don’t want them is that they’re foreign, which I understand, as none of us like change.
@Kevin Farrell: ah, no one took you bait, nobody talking about Ukrainians with the exception of you,shows your leave of intelligence
@Larry O Reilly: Ah yes, exactly, nobody talking about Ukrainians. Because they have white skin. @Ally Collyer stated:
“None of them can possibly be genuine refugees, otherwise they would have stayed in the first safe country to the one they have fled from.”
Well, Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country didn’t stay in the “first safe country to the one they have fled from” did they? So, by @Ally Collyer definition they can’t be genuine refugees… or does that only apply to people with brown or black skin?
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