French Prime Minister Warns of Potential New Attacks in European Countries

Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister of France, stated early Monday, November 16, to French media that the attacks in Paris were planned in Syria and that "Europe should expect further attacks in the coming days or weeks." In an interview with Radio "RTL" France regarding the threat of the "Islamic State" (ISIS), he emphasized: "We know that planning for further attacks against France and other European countries is underway." Paris, the capital of France, witnessed six simultaneous attacks on Friday, November 13, resulting in 132 deaths and approximately 350 injuries. The "Islamic State" (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for these attacks. On Monday, Manuel Valls reported that since the attacks on Friday in Paris, French police have raided "more than 150" homes of suspected Islamists across the country. According to AFP, the Prime Minister said that during these operations, police arrested five individuals and seized a "cache of weapons" including rocket launchers (RPGs), Kalashnikov assault rifles, bulletproof vests, handguns, and other military equipment. Thirteen of the police raids occurred in Lyon, in southeastern France, and a police raid in Toulouse, located in the southwest of the country, led to the arrest of at least three individuals. In the mountainous region of Grenoble, several individuals were also arrested, with weapons and money discovered in their homes. Manuel Valls further emphasized in his discussions with French media that the country is not facing an isolated group but rather "a terrorist army." The Prime Minister stressed: "We are now at war, and because we are in a state of war, we have taken special measures." He added: "We are taking action to destroy this enemy, whether in France in connection with finding the perpetrators of this attack or in Syria and Iraq; our response will be at the same level as these attacks [in Paris]." He also announced that several concerts and public events related to the climate summit on November 30 in Paris have been canceled. In recent days, France has intensified its campaign to bomb ISIS positions in Syria, with 12 French aircraft, including 10 fighter jets, dropping a total of 20 bombs on ISIS positions. France has also announced plans to send an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to combat the "Islamic State." According to the latest reports, a large-scale operation is currently underway in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, to find Salah Abdeslam, a fugitive suspect in the Paris attacks, with officers surrounding a house in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels. French security officials stated that the main suspect planning the Paris attacks is a person named Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who is currently in Syria. Following the identification of the body of Omar Ismail Mostafa, a French citizen of Algerian descent, the French government has identified two other attackers. One identified attacker is Sami Amimour, 28, a French citizen involved in the attack on the Bataclan concert hall. One of the passports found next to the body of one of the attackers belongs to Ahmad al-Mohammad from Syria. Meanwhile, according to the Associated Press, Turkish officials have stated that they arrested a member of ISIS last week in connection with the planning of the Paris attacks. Turkey also claims that about a year ago, they warned France about the activities of one of the attackers from the Friday Paris attacks but received no response from French officials. A video threatening Washington was released on Monday, the authenticity of which has not yet been confirmed, but in this video, a member of ISIS in Salah al-Din, Iraq, named al-Ghareeb al-Jazairi, threatens to attack Washington. Al-Ghareeb al-Jazairi states in this video: "To the countries participating in the crusaders' campaign, we say that, God willing, you will have a day like France, and just as we targeted France at its center, we swear that we will also target America at its center, namely Washington." The Independent reported on Monday, quoting British Prime Minister David Cameron, that the UK has thwarted "seven terrorist attacks" in the past six months before they could be carried out. He noted that his country is facing a threat from ISIS and that attacks similar to those on Friday in Paris "could also happen in the UK," adding that his government has recruited nearly two thousand new spies to uncover these threats. In this context, Iran's Minister of Intelligence stated that the Paris and Beirut attacks are a warning for Iran, while Merkel stated that the blame for the Paris terrorist attacks does not lie with war refugees. An emergency meeting of the interior ministers of the European Union was held following the Paris attacks, discussing the potential political and military ramifications of the terrorist attacks.