France creates new counterterrorism task force after Notre Dame attack
PARIS (Reuters) – France created a counterterrorism task force on Wednesday composed of all intelligence services that will coordinate responses to attacks, a day after a man carrying Algerian papers attacked police officers outside the Notre Dame cathedral.
Newly elected President Emmanuel Macron, portrayed by rivals as weak on security during the presidential campaign, last month instructed the task force be created to bring together France’s security agencies inside the Elysee presidential palace.
The performance of France’s intelligence services has come under close scrutiny since the November 2015 attacks on Paris, when Islamist gunmen and suicide bombers struck entertainment venues across the capital, killing 130 people.
In total, more than 230 people have been killed in a wave of attacks in France either claimed by or inspired by Islamic State over the past two-and-a-half years.
In Tuesday’s attack, a 40-year-old Algerian student armed with a hammer and kitchen knives shouted “This is for Syria” as he wounded a policeman, before being shot by police officers.
A source close to the investigation said a video in which the attacker pledged allegiance to Islamic State had been found in his apartment during a police raid on Tuesday evening.
Government spokesman Christophe Castaner said that the assailant had not previously “shown any signs of radicalization.”
A surveillance video obtained by Reuters showed the terrorist running up to three police officers in the square outside Notre Dame and attempting to land a blow with the hammer. One officer was hurt before the aggressor was shot in the chest.
Macron on Wednesday appointed Pierre de Bousquet de Florian to head the new intelligence task force known as the National Center for Counter Terrorism. It will be under direct authority of the president.
Bousquet de Florian once headed France’s DST regional intelligence service that was disbanded under president Nicolas Sarkozy.
It will include some 20 people representing the various security services and be operational 24 hours, seven days a week.
“This has been created to ensure that the intelligence services truly cooperate,” said a French presidency official.
Macron also named career diplomat Bernard Emie, who served as ambassador to Britain, Turkey, Libya and Jordan, as head of the DGSE external intelligence service.