Twelve arrested in anti-terror raids
As travel alerts to the UK and Europe are upgraded, anti-terror police have arrested 12 people in swoops on suspected Islamic extremists in France.
Anti-terror police arrested nine men in the southern French cities of Marseille and Avignon on suspicion of arms and explosives trafficking.
Police reportedly seized shotguns and a Kalashnikov rifle during the raid.
In separate raids, one man was detained in Bordeaux in an operation targeting groups who supply false identification documents for jihadists, while another had been arrested in the Italian city of Naples over the weekend over suspected links to al-Qaeda.
The arrests come after the US State Department upgraded its terrorism threat level for American citizens travelling to Europe.
Britain followed the US in raising its travel warning to “high” for those visiting France and Germany.
The heightened warnings have coincided with a series of widespread terror threats across Europe in recent weeks.
The Eiffel Tower was also evacuated for the second time in as many weeks, due to bomb threats.
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, urged the British public to be aware and report any suspicious activity.
“As we have consistently made clear, we face a real and serious threat from terrorism. Our threat level remains at severe – meaning that an attack is highly likely.
“I would urge the public to report any suspicious activity to the police in support of the efforts of our security services to discover, track and disrupt terrorist activity,” Mrs May said.
The US State Department warned Americans travelling to Europe of the “potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure”.
“US citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when travelling,” the department said.
The travel warnings are likely to see UK tourism suffer a dip in American visitors.
Bookings down
There was a 35 per cent drop in the number of Americans searching for trips to the UK in the last week, according to flight comparison website Skyscanner.
“It is not surprising that the public have been put off flying to countries cited as potential al-Qaeda targets, certainly in the immediate aftermath of recent warnings,” Skyscanner chief executive Gareth Williams said.
The VisitBritain organisation said previous alerts had not put off tourists significantly.
The European Tour Operators Association urged people to keep visiting Europe.
Avoiding travelling “would only add to the hysteria and compound the damage al Qaida or other groups are trying to inflict,” executive director Tom Jenkins said
“Terrorists do not damage an economy by what they do but by the reaction to what they do. It is vital the public keep these official statements in perspective.”