France to deploy 10,000 troops to secure cities

      France is mobilising 10,000 troops to boost security after last week’s deadly attacks, and will send thousands of po­lice to protect Jewish schools.
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said troops would be in place from this evening in sensitive areas.
It is the first time troops have been deployed within France on such a scale.
Seventeen people were killed in Paris last week in attacks at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and at a kosher super­market.


On Sunday, an estimated 3.7 million people took to the streets to show solidarity with the victims, including 1.5 mil­lion people in Paris.
About 40 world leaders joined the start of the Paris march, linking arms in an act of soli­darity.
President Francois Hollande ordered the deployment of troops during a crisis meeting with top officials early on Mon­day.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazaneuve announced that nearly 5,000 members of the security forces would be sent to protect France’s 717 Jewish schools, and that troops would be sent as reinforcements over the next two days.
The security meeting is a chance for President Hollande to be briefed on the latest in the investigation into last week’s attacks. New elements include the discovery of a second flat where Coulibaly seems to have stored his weapons.

There will also be prelimi­nary discussion of what - if any - new measures need to be taken in the fight against jihad­ism. There has been much talk about a possible French Patriot Act - similar to what the US en­acted after 9/11.
But there seems little appe­tite to make major legislative changes. A new anti-terrorist law has only just gone through parliament. Emphasis is more likely to be on improving the means - in manpower and ma­terial - available to the intel­ligence services, and also com­bating the growing problem of radicalisation in prisons.
Chris Bockman said security was tight at a Jewish school in Toulouse which was the scene of a fatal attack in 2012.

Last week, Mr Valls admitted there had been “clear failings” after it emerged that the three gunman involved in the attacks - Said and Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly - had a his­tory of extremism.
The Kouachi brothers were on UK and US terror watch lists and Coulibaly had previously been convicted for plotting to free a known militant from prison. Coulibaly met Cherif Kouachi while in jail.