America warns of terror threat at Euro 2016
Threat of attacks on public gatherings, Americans told as Hollande says strike chaos is a lesser concern
Americans have been warned of the risk of a terror attack in France during Euro 2016. The US State Department warned travellers that extremists could target football stadiums or venues showing matches. Tourism industry representatives have warned that large numbers of visitors have cancelled bookings to Paris.
THE United States has warned its citizens of the risk of an attack during the European Championships, on the same day that the French president said terrorism was the biggest threat to the football tournament.
Extremists could target stadiums or venues showing matches, as well as other public gatherings across Europe, the US State Department said. French intelligence has recently warned of Islamists’ desire to bomb public places and security services have mounted training exercises in case of attacks in railway stations or stadiums.
François Hollande yesterday dismissed calls to scrap a controversial labour reform in order to avoid industrial action continuing during the tournament, saying the “biggest threat” was not labour unrest but “terrorism”.
Travel by train, air and road has been affected by a series of strikes in the country, which hosts the tournament from June 10 until July 10.
Tourism industry representatives have warned that large numbers of visitors have cancelled bookings to Paris.
“The scenes of guerrilla-type action in the middle of Paris, beamed around the world, reinforce the feeling of fear and misunderstanding,” the tourist board said.
The US warning is likely to cause visitor numbers to drop further. Paris in particular is still recovering from the effect of November’s terrorist attacks.
“Euro Cup stadiums, fan zones, and unaffiliated entertainment venues broadcasting the tournaments in France and across Europe represent potential targets for terrorists, as do other large-scale sporting events and public gathering places throughout Europe,” the State Department said.
US citizens should also be alert to attacks at tourist sites, restaurants, com- mercial centres and transportation, it said. “The large number of tourists visiting Europe in the summer months will present greater targets for terrorists planning attacks in public locations, especially at large events,” US officials added.
The state department’s advice is the latest in a growing crescendo of warnings. On Sunday, Hans-Georg Massen, head of German intelligence, said they were picking up “quite a lot of background noise” from terrorists discussing the tournament.
“We know that IS [Isil] has the European Championship in its sights,” he told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
He added that while there was no hard evidence of an attack being planned, there was “an elevated number of indications” that Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, al-Qaeda or its Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front wanted to attack Western targets.
The Foreign Office updated its travel advice yesterday, but only to add warnings about the potential strikes. The terrorist warning was already included in its advice.
“There is a high threat from terrorism,” the FCO warned. “Due to ongoing threats to France by Islamist terrorist groups, and recent French military intervention against Daesh [formerly referred to as Isil], the French government has warned the public to be especially vigilant and has reinforced its security measures.”