PARIS — The French Army has flown and coached in an extra 600 troops to the capital and the immediate region to in an urgentboost tosecurity on the ground,following Wednesday's yesterday'skilling of 10 journalists and two police officers, the spokesman for the Joint Chief of Staff said Thursdaytoday.
As set out in the official white paper on defense and national security, the highest priority of the armed forces is to protect domestic integrity, ahead of deployment in foreign operations, Army Col. Gilles Jaron told journalists.
France today observed a day of mourning, with the flag flying at half mast or bound by a black ribbon. Across the nation, a minute's silence was held at midday to pay respect to the memory of the cartoonists, journalists and police slain yesterday at the office of satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo.
Four star cartoonists — Jean Cabut, Georges Wolinski, Stéphane Charbonnier and Bernard Verlhac — were among the fallen.
The troops will support patrols by local police and paramilitary gendarmarie forces, which are protecting media offices, public buildings, places of worship and public transport. On Wednesday, Yesterday, school trips were canceled as the national security alert went to the highest risk level.
The troops primarily were flown in Flight rews yesterday flew in 450 troops on CASA and Transall military transports — 450 on Wednesday and another 150 today — although some were also bused in from the north. , more than 150 today, and A further 250 soldiers could be deployed Friday tomorrow if needed, Jaron said.
The troops , some of whom were also bused in from the north, are stationed in three Army bases in the southeast and southwest of the country. The aircraft flew from airbases at Evreux, Creil and Villacoublay to transport the troops.
The civil police authorities and the Paris military governor have a joint command of the soldiers once they are in the capital under the mission of observation and surveillance, Jaron said.
An Army presence on the ground forms part of the 2,500 service personnel assigned to domestic security, with the Air Force and Navy patrolling the airspace and seas above and around the country, he said.
Besides the capital, France has also boosted the security in for some 15 cities around the country, including Calais, Lille and Strasbourg.
Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian Thursday morning this morning attended an interministerial crisis meeting called by President François Hollande. Le Drian also took part in a similar gathering held Wednesday yesterday soon after the shooting.
French media today reported the support from US state Secretary of State John Kerry, who on Wednesday yesterday spoke in fluent French on the television. President Barak Obama has offered American assistance in the search for the killers. who are still on the run.
Hollande has called for a national solidarity in the wake of the slaying, which is widely seen as an attack on freedom of speech.
Email: ptran@defensenews.com.
