PARIS: The French authorities mentioned on Friday (Dec 29) it should deploy greater than 95,000 police and navy personnel for New 12 months’s Eve celebrations, including {that a} heightened “terrorist menace” required tight safety.
Paris alone, the place as much as a million revellers are anticipated on the Champs-Elysees Sunday night time – twice as many as final yr – will get 6,000 safety forces to maintain order.
Inside Minister Gerald Darmanin advised reporters that Sunday’s deployment was motivated by “a context of a heightened terrorist menace as a result of battle in Israel and Palestine”.
Extra individuals had been anticipated within the streets of the capital than final yr due to further celebrations to mark 2024 because the yr of the Paris Summer time Olympics and Paralympics, Darmanin mentioned.
The nationwide deployment would come with 90,000 police or gendarmes, 5,000 members of the anti-terror navy contingent Operation Sentinelle in addition to cellular items, Darmanin mentioned.
There shall be a ban on alcoholic drinks in some areas of Paris, he mentioned.
No political demonstrations shall be allowed, added Paris police chief Laurent Nunez.
Individuals shall be body-searched earlier than having access to a festivities’ perimeter across the Champs-Elysees, and be banned from carrying “any object that could possibly be used as a weapon”, he mentioned.
Drones shall be used for surveillance, and France’s intelligence providers shall be placed on alert, Darmanin mentioned.