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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

About 2,000 foreign troops to help France secure Paris Olympics

Some 2,000 foreign troops and police will be sent to Paris to bolster security for this summer's Olympic Games as France remains on high alert following attack threats, the French armed forces minister said Friday.

Pedestrians walk past closed-off construction works with the Eiffel Tower in the background at the Champ-de-Mars that will host the beach volleyball competition event during the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic
Pedestrians walk past closed-off construction works with the Eiffel Tower in the background at the Champ-de-Mars that will host the beach volleyball competition event during the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris on April 12, 2024. (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP)

“We have something like 2,000 foreign police officers, gendarmes and troops who will be joining the protection system for the Olympic Games,” Sebastien Lecornu told all-news television station LCI.

France, which will host the games from July 26 to August 11, has raised its security alert to the highest level after a Moscow concert hall attack claimed at least 144 lives on March 22. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the massacre.

The minister said the reinforcements would provide “specific functions” in short supply,  including dog handlers, horse riders and mounted patrols.

READ ALSO: Factcheck: Which areas will be closed in Paris during the Olympics?

In late March, Poland said it would supply troops with an emphasis on sniffer dogs for bomb detection and counter-terrorism operations. It did not specify the number of troops.

Nearly 45,000 police officers and gendarmes will be mobilised in the Paris region for the opening ceremony July 26, which in breaking with tradition will be held along the Seine River instead of the main stadium.

During the games themselves, 18,000 French military troops will be deployed, including 3,000 responsible for aerial surveillance — in addition to about 35,000 police and gendarmes.

READ ALSO: Paris bosses ‘confident’ that Seine will be clean enough for Olympic events

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Olympic torch ascends Cannes red carpet as part of journey around France

French athletes carried the Olympic torch up the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, as it makes its way to the capital for the Summer Olympics.

Olympic torch ascends Cannes red carpet as part of journey around France

The torch landed in the southern port city of Marseille earlier this month on board a 19th-century ship that had sailed it all the way from Greece.

It is now on a meandering route across France – and its overseas territories – building up to the Paris Games, which run from July 26th to August 11th.

On the red carpet, French basketball player Iliana Rupert was among those to hold the torch to the sound of tunes from sporty film soundtracks – including Chariots of Fire, about runners training for the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Retired sprinter and three-time Olympic gold medallist Marie-Jo Perec had her turn, as did the chief organiser of the Games, Tony Estanguet.

The Olympic flame is set to travel through 400 towns and dozens of tourist attractions during its 12,000-kilometre journey through mainland France, as well as visiting overseas French territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific.

MAP Which French towns and villages is the Olympic torch visiting?

Authorities have said anti-terror and riot police in vehicles as well as anti-drone specialists would be permanently but discreetly deployed as the torch moves around.

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