French prosecutor warns of elevated terror attack threat

PARIS (AP) — France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor has warned of an increased threat of attacks on French soil by Islamic extremists coming from Iraq and Syria. Jean-Francois Ricard said in an interview Friday on French news broadcaster BFM TV that terrorist acts carried out “by individuals coming from areas where terrorists are operating, especially the Iraqi-Syrian area” cannot be ruled out. Ricard’s comments come ahead of the opening of the trial of eight suspects in connection with the 2016 Bastille Day truck attack in Nice that left 86 people dead. Ricard said the extremist threat has increased since 2020.