Shocking pictures of soldiers patrolling French Riviera beaches after Nice ISIS atrocity
French government on edge after attacks on Nice and Normandy
THESE photos show armed soldiers patrolling a beach in France just yards from a young girl building a sandcastle.
The troops have been drafted in to to patrol St Tropez amid fears it and other parts of the French Riviera could be under threat from ISIS.
The French government said an additional 23,000 troops and police officers would be stationed at popular tourist destinations throughout the holiday period.
Cannes council has banned backpacks and large non-transparent bags from the beaches for fear they could be used to conceal bombs and weapons.
Those who ignore the ban could be ordered to leave the beach and fined.
Nice, 50 miles along the coast, is still coming to terms with the lorry attack carried out by ISIS-supporter Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, in which 84 people were killed and more than 300 injured during Bastille Day celebrations.
Holiday bookings to the city have plummeted 57 per cent following the atrocity and have fallen eight per cent for France as a whole since last November’s gun attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris.
The atrocity was the first in a spate of terror attacks across Europe over the last year.
In March, 32 people were killed when suicide bombers blew themselves up at an airport and metro stations in the Belgian capital Brussels.
And following the Nice attack earlier this month, ISIS launched attacks in Wurzburg and Ansbach in Germany, and two teenage terror fanatics slit a priest’s throat in Normandy.
Nice killer Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel sent his brother a selfie before the killings
Bernard Cazeneuve, the French interior minister, is particularly concerned that terrorists could strike holiday-makers at gatherings this summer, such as festivals and open-air concerts.
He said that the reinforcements would be deployed to 56 such events over the coming weeks.
More than 3 million Brits visited France between July and September last year, and many are expected to return this year.
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