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Thousands of police officers will be watching over Paris during the Olympics.
Image: dpa
Thousands of police officers and soldiers, boats, helicopters and cyber experts: France is leaving nothing to chance to protect the Olympics and the millions of visitors.
Immediately before the start of the Olympic Games, Paris resembles a city under siege and there is often no way through for tourists. Armed soldiers patrol to protect against terror and danger, police officers secure roadblocks, helicopters are in the air and speedboats with officers are on the Seine. The neighbouring country, which is experienced in security matters, is relying on full mobilization.
Right from the start, security was a major issue for the Games in Paris, which has already been hit by terror on several occasions. 45,000 security personnel will be deployed for the opening of the Games on Friday alone. France had declared the highest terror alert level in March.
As Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said recently, the terrorist threat in France remains "extremely high", especially ahead of the Olympic Games.
There have been repeated incidents in recent days that have alerted the emergency services. There were two knife attacks on a police officer and a soldier, and a car crashed into the terrace of a restaurant.
However, this had nothing to do with terror or the Olympics. "As far as we know, there is no characteristic threat to the security of the Olympic Games," Darmanin recently asserted in "Le Journal du Dimanche".
However, there have been several arrests in connection with possible terror plans relating to the Games. At the end of May, investigators foiled plans for an Islamist terrorist attack on a football match during the games in Saint-Étienne in the south of France. And recently, the Minister of the Interior announced further arrests.
The arrest of a Russian-Ukrainian man in a hotel near the airport, who was seriously injured when a homemade explosive device exploded, also caused alarm.
"Supporters of the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda in Europe are almost certainly planning to attack the Olympic Games in Paris," according to an analysis by the global intelligence company Recorded Future on the specific threat of attacks. However, successful attacks have become less likely due to the security precautions and the fact that the terror alert has been raised to the highest possible level.
In fact, France has equipped itself to the maximum against such dangers. In addition to the tens of thousands of police officers who have been deployed from all over the country to Paris and the other venues for the Games, the army has set up a camp for 4,500 soldiers in the capital. The armed forces are mobilizing a total of 15,000 soldiers for the entire duration of the Games.
There will also be a limited number of security forces from other countries, some of whom are arriving to protect their own athletes. Police vehicles from Qatar and officers from the Arab country have already caused a stir in Paris, patrolling the metro with French colleagues.
Hundreds of special forces from the French air force are also monitoring the airspace from several bases, with one of the aims being to neutralize any drones that may be flying into sensitive areas.
To monitor the movements of millions of visitors, video surveillance based on artificial intelligence will also be used to a limited extent in Paris. The evaluation of camera images using intelligent, algorithm-based technology should make it possible to detect the entry of people into non-public or sensitive areas, as well as the movement of crowds in high-risk areas, unusually large gatherings of people and even abandoned luggage. There will be no facial recognition via the cameras.
In addition to specific acts of violence, France's security authorities are also preparing for hacking and cyber attacks during the Games. Security experts have warned that there will be massive attempts to sow fear of terror and other dangers among visitors, undermine the reputation of the games and sabotage their progress.
In its threat analysis for the Paris Games, Recorded Future names Iran and Azerbaijan as state actors in cyberattacks alongside Russia. The country in the Caucasus has France in its sights because Paris is supporting Armenia in the conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
In connection with the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, Recorded Future expects cyberattacks on the Olympic Games because activists want to take advantage of the international attention. Groups with links to the Iranian government are in a position to carry out hacker attacks with more serious consequences.
Two years ago, France's cyber security authority began developing a strategy to defend against such attacks. In addition to the protection of players and systems and prevention, the strategy also includes the ability to respond to specific attacks during the Games, the government announced in Paris.
23.07.2024, 07:48
