Following France, Italy stepped up security measures following the attack on Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region and the claim of responsibility by an affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group, according to The Independent.
The attack brought Europe’s attention back to the risk from militant groups, especially ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris and the European Championships in Germany.
France raised security alert to its highest level on Sunday, while Italy stepped up security at a meeting of its National Security Council on Monday. Both surveillance and inspections would be intensified, “paying the most attention to the places of greatest aggregation and transit of people, as well as sensitive targets,” the Italian Interior Ministry announced.
German Interior Ministry spokesman Cornelius Funke stated that the threat from terrorist groups “remains acute.” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that secret police and plainclothes officers would monitor sports venues and shopping centres in the capital.
A branch of the Islamic State group known as ISIS-K, IS-K or ISPK claimed responsibility for the attack in Moscow, officials in the United States and other Western countries confirmed. French President Emmanuel Macron claimed that Paris had intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as allegedly involved in several attempted terrorist attacks in France in recent months.
