France on high security alert after Boston bombs

In the wake of the Boston marathon bombs, French interior minister Manuel Valls has asked French police and security forces to increase their vigilance immediately and reinforce preventative operations, especially around public buildings, as a priority.

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Speaking on French radio station, RTL, Valls noted that France is already on “reinforced red”, a relatively high security alert.

Jihadist groups issued specific threats to France earlier this year, citing as a motive President Hollande’s decision to intervene in Mali to halt the advance by islamists from northern Mali towards the capital, Bamako.

Valls did not suggest that France should upgrade its security alert status to “scarlet”, the highest level of threat, but called upon people to report any suspicious packages, though he warned against generalised panic.

The level of our security alert is already very high, as it has been for several months, but every time there is an event like this with worldwide impact it's necessary to remind people we're mobilised and vigilant.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls

President François Hollande issued a communiqué just after midnight, expressing his “condolences to the victims’ families and France’s total solidarity with the people of the United States and the country’s authorities”.