A battle has been won, not the war, says French press

The seven-hour raid in the suburb of Saint-Denis received blanket coverage across leading French newspapers on Thursday, with graphic accounts, editorials and coverage of last week’s attacks from various angles.

Le Monde had a large photo of security forces on its front page, with the headline “Hunting down jihadists”. Its coverage titled “Terrorist attacks in Paris” was spread over 24 pages, focusing on Europe and France as well as the ramifications of Friday’s attacks that killed more than 130 people.

Its editorial was titled “Russian turn of Francois Hollande” and it also carried a full-page interview of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who said: “Too much time has been lost.”

Le Figaro’s front page had a large photo of security forces during the raid at Saint-Denis on Wednesday, with the headline: “The police deliver the first blow to Islamist terrorists”. It had 11 pages inside titled “The Paris bombings”, providing detailed coverage of the recent tragic events.

In a front page editorial titled “The war continues”, Le Figaro noted the Saint-Denis raid and said: “A battle was won, not the war, which continues. How many Islamic groups are hiding in our cities? At each of their offensive, cowards, they reveal a little more what they are able to imagine to sow death.”

It added: “A street or a school, a train or a church, a stadium or theatre. Their destructive enterprise is without limits or boundaries. Very far from the cliche of the lone wolf, suicide bombers form an army in France and Europe, advancing in the dark.”

Local TV and radio stations also focussed on the attacks, providing expert analyses, live coverage and listener phone-ins.

LE FIGARO’S FRONT PAGE HAD A LARGE PHOTO OF SECURITY FORCES DURING THE RAID AT SAINT-DENIS ON WEDNESDAY