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POLICE

Swiss police take up assault rifles over terror threat

Police in Switzerland are arming themselves with assault rifles to be better prepared in the event of a terrorist attack, according to reports.

Published: 30 November 2016 11:20 CET
Swiss police take up assault rifles over terror threat
File photo: Bas Leenders

Stefan Blättler, chief of Bern cantonal police, told Swiss-German TV programme 10vor10 that his service had bought assault rifles for its police officers and that “several” other cantonal police services in the country were doing the same, reported news agencies on Wednesday.

Usually non-specialist police officers carry handguns but not assault rifles, which are only carried by specialist units.

But now officers are being trained to use the latter in “extreme situations”, Blättler told 10vor10.

The advantage of assault rifles – a long-range selective-fire gun frequently used by the military – is that “they can be used over a longer distance”, he said.

“The opposition is very professionally armed,” he added, saying assault rifles allowed the police to be on “the same level”.

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CRIME

Hoax bomb threats against French airports ‘traced to Swiss email’

Repeated bomb threats against dozens of French airports which led to evacuations and flight cancellations have been 'traced to an email address in Switzerland', according to French authorities.

Published: 23 October 2023 09:13 CEST
Hoax bomb threats against French airports 'traced to Swiss email'

More than 70 bomb threats have been made against French airports in the past week, leading to evacuations at dozens of airports and at least 130 flights cancelled.

Most of the alerts were triggered by emails warning of a bomb in the airport – more than 70 such emails have been received by airports around the country such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Paris Beauvais, Marseille and dozens of smaller airports – including Basel-Mulhouse on the Franco-Swiss border. 

On Sunday French Transport Minister Clément Beaune said that “almost all of the threats have been traced to the same email address, situated in Switzerland”.

He added: “Since Wednesday, it is almost always the same email address that is used, located outside the European Union, in Switzerland”.

He called on hosting sites to help the French authorities, saying: “Everyone has a responsibility, including the platforms and social networks, not to support this kind of attack and to cooperate as quickly as possible with the French civil aviation authorities and our justice system.”

In France, the maximum penalty for making a hoax bomb threat is two years in jail and a €30,000 fine.

As well as airport evacuations and flight disruption, French tourist sites have also been hit with bomb hoaxes – the Palace of Versailles has been evacuated seven times in the past week.

It comes in the context of a tense situation in France as the country raised its terror alert to maximum after an apparent Islamist attack on Friday, October 13th in which a teacher was killed and two others wounded.

Security at large events such as the Rugby World Cup matches has been stepped up. 

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