(Reuters) President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the gunmen who killed 137 people in a concert hall outside Moscow were part of an Islamic State branch that was behind foiled attempts to attack France over the past few months.
This explains why the French government on Sunday increased the country’s security alert to its highest level, Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said. More soldiers will be put on standby and ready to patrol sensitive sites, including schools.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday’s Moscow attack.
Russia, which has challenged assertions by the United States that the Islamic State militant group orchestrated the mass shooting in Moscow, continued on Monday to suggest Ukraine was to blame. Macron said this was “cynical and counterproductive.”
