There Was An Attack On German Tourists In Paris, French Minister Make Sure There Are No Changes In The Opening Of The 2024 Olympics
JAKARTA - French Sports Minister on Monday confirmed there was no 'plan B' regarding the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, after a German tourist was killed by a man armed with a knife and hammer, while two others were injured near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday.
"We don't have a 'plan B', we have a plan in which there are several sub-plans with a certain number of adjustment variables," Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera told France Inter radio.
Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Richard said on Sunday that the suspect, who is a 26-year-old French national, was arrested after the attack. He is said to have addressed ISIS in a previously recorded video.
The attack took place at Quai de Grenelle, where it is also included in the planned opening ceremony of the upcoming 2024 Olympics.
When asked if the government was considering a change in plans to hold a ceremony on the Seine River, with hundreds of thousands of spectators expected to be on the banks of the river amid security threats, Minister Amelie said: "This is not something we are working on."
"We have the capacity to secure the event", he said, adding certain details and saying the security perimeter would be adjusted ahead of the Olympics.
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France has been on high alert since raising its security threshold in October, when a man from Chechen with a knife killed a teacher at a school in northern France.
Meanwhile, European security officials have warned of an increased risk of attacks by terrorists amid the Israel-Hamas war, with the greatest threat most likely coming from hard-to-trade "lone wolf" attackers.