France will be stepping up security in all public places during the Christmas holiday after a series of three attacks on civilians and police occurred in as many days.
The Local fr noted that Prime Minister Manuel Valls ordered the deployment of an extra 300 troops to patrol major shopping districts.
As previously reported, Monday a man driving a van ran down pedestrians at a Christmas market in the city of Nantes. A day before that a man ploughed into pedestrians in Dijon. And, one day prior to that, a man attacked police officers with a knife before they fatally shot him. None of the victims were killed.
Witnesses and authorities have said that at least two of the men were shouting “God is great” in Arabic as they carried out their attacks. However, French police have not linked all three acts to terrorism. They said that the man in Dijon had a history of mental problems and are describing the man who struck pedestrians in Nantes as “unbalanced.”
On Tuesday, Valls spoke on live T.V. before ordering the extra troops.
“I appeal for unity and national harmony,” he said. “Democracy is never stronger against violence and terrorism than when it respects and promotes its own values. All of our society must mobilize against radical violence and the rise of hatred and intolerance”.