(ATR) There’s praise for the swift reaction of French security to the violent ambush on the Champs Elysee Thursday night.
A policeman was killed by a gunman who fired into a police van stopped at a traffic light on the boulevard. Returning fire, the assailant was killed with ISIS laying claim to the attacker. Two other police officers were in serious condition from gunshot wounds.
Within minutes, the wide sidewalks of the world’s most famous street were cleared. The weather has been good so there were thousands of people walking about. The evacuation apparently went smoothly, with no tourist casualties or injuries to report.
Metro stops Concorde, Roosevelt and Elysee were closed, but Paris Metro said service was otherwise normal across the sprawling network.
But the attack, even though smaller in scope than previous ones in Paris, is a reminder that the city, the country still face a living, breathing menace.
The latest blow comes days before the April 23 first round of the French presidential election. A force of 50,000 security officers is reported to have already been deployed across the country to keep trouble away from the vote on Sunday.
Outgoing French President François Hollande says he will take whatever steps are needed to keep the election safe, promising vigilance in a TV address.
François Fillon was the first of the 11 candidates to announce a 24-hour hiatus of campaigning, joined so far by Marine Le Pen. The race is expected to be close among a group of four or five contenders. The top twofinishers go on to the May 7 runoff.
That means that the new French president should be on hand a week later to welcome the IOC Evaluation Commission for the 2024 Olympics to Paris. The group travels to Paris from Los Angeles, the other city in the contest.
Paris 2024 was not available for immediate comment on the attack or any security implications for the IOC visit that this latest incident might provoke.
France has been under a state of emergency since February 2015 with the massacre at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine. Subsequent attacks have extended the state of emergency until July. It will be up to the new president to decide whether to end the measure, perhaps unlikely in the aftermath of another outburst of terrorism.
Paris admits problems in its filing with the IOC for the 2024 candidacy, saying the risk from terrorism is "high".
"Terrorist threats have been a serious concern for all nations hosting Olympic Games for more than 30 years. The threat posed by terrorist groups is assessed as a serious risk across Europe and touches virtually all parts of the globe," says Paris 2024 in the section on security in volume one of its bid book, submitted more than a year ago.
"France is a safe and peaceful nation, but it has endured several terrorist attacks and therefore remains vigilant to thwart further conspiracies. Over the past several years, key reforms have significantly strengthened the legal framework as well as introduced new prevention and enforcement measures to fight against this threat," says the Paris 2024 file, which claims the risk of terrorism will be lowered to medium by the time of the Games.
Written by Ed Hula.
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