A remembrance march for victims of the Islamic State truck attack in Nice, France has been banned because of continuing safety concerns and stretched security services.
Two weeks ago, on the 14th of July, hundreds of people were mown down by a man crying “Allahu Akbar” as they celebrated France’s national day on the coastal Promenade des Anglais.
More than 10,000 people indicated on Facebook that they would attend the “white march” to remember the 84 who died and the dozens still in hospital.
“Given the very strong mobilisation of law enforcement and emergency and threat, the Alpes-Maritimes authorities have decided not to allow the white march that was to be held Sunday”, authorities announced today in a statement, Le Figaro reports.
The organisers, “who had duly filed a declaration”, were “informed yesterday (Wednesday)” of the decision, which was “made in consultation with the Mayor of Nice” the statement explained.
“March together to honour the victims of the attack on July 14, which killed at least 84 innocent people”, organisers announced on Facebook.
“A thought for their families but also the wounded still hospitalised in the process of fighting,” they added.
This Tuesday, just two weeks after the Nice attack, a priest was slaughtered as he gave mass in Normandy. It was just the latest attack in a year and a half of terror in France, beginning with the Charlie Hebdo shootings in January 2015.
French police have frequently found themselves overrun in recent months, and hundreds of thousands of troops have been deployed to the streets.
Also today, the French government will confirm the creation of a new civilian National Guard to help protect citizens and the nation from Islamist terror attacks.
Authorities are urging all able-bodied volunteers to step up with the aim of boosting the current 28,000 reservists by 12,000. More than 2,500 have already answered the call.
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