France steps up domestic security after beheading of French hostage

President Francois Hollande has vowed to increase security on transport and in public places after a French tourist was killed in Algeria, and said it was ready to support all states that requested its help to fight terror. “Preventive measures against the risk of terrorism will be strengthened at public sites and on transport,” a statement from the French presidency said after a war cabinet meeting on Thursday. The meeting was called after the “cowardly” beheading of a French hostage Herve Gourdel who was kidnapped by jihadists Jund al-Khilafa in Algeria. After the videod execution of the 55-year-old, Hollande said France would “never give in to blackmail” after the militants demanded an end to French military operations in Iraq. “The fight against terrorism must continue and be stepped up,” he told the United Nations General Assembly.

Everything will be looked at again, including what we want to do in Iraq and what will happen in Syria.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius

France was opposed to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq but was one of the first to sign up for an active role in the campaign against the IS group that has rampaged through large areas of Iraq and Syria. Paris has six Rafale fighter jets and just under 1,000 soldiers based in the United Arab Emirates and on Friday carried out its first air strike on IS targets in Iraq, destroying a logistics depot.

France will never give in to terror. Today, the whole country is grieving but united around our values, around that which, more than ever, defines France.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls

Jund al-Khilafa Europe