President Macron Says the Attacker in Russia Tried to Attack France

JAKARTA - President Emmanuel Macron said the armed group that carried out a deadly attack and killed 137 people at a concert hall outside Moscow was part of the ISIS branch that was behind failed attempts to attack France in recent months.

This explains why the French Government on Sunday raised the country's security alert to the highest level, President Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said.

This increase means that more troops will be alerted and ready to patrol sensitive areas, including schools.

The ISIS group claimed responsibility for the attack in Moscow on Friday last week.

"This attack was claimed to have been carried out by ISIS," said President Macron, quoted by Reuters, March 26.

"And the information available to us, our intelligence agencies, as well as our key partners, indicates that it was ISIS who instigated and carried out the attack," he continued.

Russia, which opposes the United States' claims that Islamic State was behind the mass shooting in Moscow, on Monday continued to say Ukraine was to blame. President Macron said this was "cynical and counterproductive".

"This special group has carried out several attempts (attacks) in our area over the last few months," he said.

President Macron also said France had offered to increase cooperation with Russian intelligence agencies over the concert hall attack, "so that we continue to fight effectively against groups targeting several countries".

PM Attal later said this included a planned attack on the city of Strasbourg, in eastern France.

"The claim of responsibility for the (Moscow) attack by an ISIS branch planning attacks in European countries including France prompted us to raise the Vigipirate (security threat assessment) to the highest level," said PM Attal.

"We will deploy extraordinary means anywhere in (France) territory," he said.

About 3,000 troops are currently part of operation "Sentinelle" patrolling places such as train stations, places of worship, schools and theaters. Meanwhile, another 4,000 will be alerted, said PM Attal.

He explained that France had thwarted two possible attacks since the beginning of this year.

France is known to have been hit by a series of terrorist attacks over the past decade, the worst of which was in 2015, targeting the Bataclan concert hall, cafes and bars in Paris, which some Parisians said helped them understand why security must now be increased.

Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly identified ISIS as being linked to the attackers, who he said were trying to flee to Ukraine.