BY TIM PARSONS
A warning has been issued that Euro 2016 may be a terrorist target.Euro 2016 football tournament, held in France next month could be a target for terrorists, the U.S State Department has said.
Football’s biggest tournament, hosted from 10 June to 10 July this year, is feared to be a target for terrorists, eager to be as disruptive as possible and grab the world’s attention in a devastating attack. France is already under a state of emergency after last years attacks in Paris which left 130 people dead.
This attack was followed with 32 deaths n Belgium, when blasts hit Brussels airport and a metro station. With millions of people expected to attend this sport event, the U.S. It is only the third time in the past 20 years a warning like this that such a warning has been issued, The BBC reports. The department warns tourists to beware of tourist sites, restaurants, transportation.
The warning has been extended to the Tour de France cycle race and the Catholic Church’s Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, which is expected to draw up to 2.5 million visitors.
Richard Barrett, a former head of counter terrorism for MI6, said US officials also told the BBC that these kinds of alerts are given about potential threats – just because they obliged to tell people about them, not because anything is going to happen”. Reasonable enough that is, the underlying message still being that the Euro 2016 football tournament could easily be(and probably is) a target for terrorists. All those planning to visit should be aware.
Clearly, terrorists will not announce when they are going to strike, however the warnings that a high possibility of an attack should be prepared for, enough for visiting foreigners to be vigilant, are sufficient to raise awareness of the existing risk and danger that lie ahead. There will certainly be a lot of security at the games, but the French security system has been known to be lapse in past times.
It will be absolutely necessary for as much security as possible to surround the games, and if visible security is present and most corners of the France, the chances of a terrorist attack will be slim. The practical question that arises here is whether France will make enough resources available to place armed police almost everywhere, that is every main restaurant, tourist center, The Tour de France Cycle race, and the Catholic Church Youth day in Krakow. That may be the key thing, whether enough security will be available.
Though the warning that Euro 2016 tournament may be a target for terrorists does not mean that people who have booked tickets to travel there should be scared, all it probably means is that high vigilance is advised, and perhaps you should choose restaurants and tourists cites that have heavily armed police or soldier standing guard.