UN, EU move to toughen anti-IS fight

PARIS ( AFP) — The UN Security Council on Friday urged its members to ramp up their fight against Islamic State jihadists after the Paris attacks, as Europe said it would tighten border checks and Brussels issued its highest terror alert.

Hours after the UN Security Council passed the resolution authorizing countries to “take all necessary measures” against IS, gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital, taking dozens of people hostage in a siege that left at least 27 dead.

The attack on Bamako’s luxury Radisson Blu hotel added to fears about the global jihadist threat a week after attacks in Paris left 130 people dead, although there was no immediate confirmation of a link with IS.

In the European Union, ministers agreed to rush through reforms to the passport-free Schengen zone to tighten the bloc’s borders, while Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level as investigators charged more people over links to the Paris killings.

“The analysis shows a serious and imminent threat requiring specific security measures as well as detailed recommendations to the population,” the OCAM crisis center, which is part of the Belgian interior ministry, said in a statement.

Officials declined to add further details until later yesterday “in order to allow ongoing judicial investigations to follow their course,” the statement said.

The 28-year-old suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian of Moroccan origin, is believed to have traveled to Syria to join IS and be trained as an operative in Europe.

News that he and another attacker were able to slip back into Europe from Syria, despite being the subject of international arrest warrants, has raised fears jihadists are taking advantage of the migrant crisis to carry out attacks.