TV4 News meets the alpine hunters from the 27th battalion in Annecy as they gather near the Notre Dame cathedral in central Paris. They are all professional soldiers, trained for difficult special operations in Africa. But now they have been sent on a completely different mission: To patrol the streets of the French capital for two months.
– We have a completely different firepower than the police to deal with a terrorist act like the Bataclan, says patrol leader Sergeant Pierre Emmanuell, and continues:
– We have the weapons and equipment required to deal with that type of threat.
High preparedness after the teacher’s murder
Following the brutal murder of a teacher in Arras on October 13th, terror alert in France was raised to the highest level possible and the government decided to deploy 7,000 soldiers to increase security.
Since then, the situation has become even more tense due to the war in Gaza, and the number of hate crimes against Jews in France has exploded.
Today’s mission for the Alpine hunters from Annecy is therefore to patrol the Jewish quarters in the Marais and especially to guard Jewish schools and synagogues. Within 15 minutes, they must be able to be on the scene of an ongoing terrorist act and they are mandated to use lethal force if necessary to stop an ongoing shooting or knife attack.
The patrol leader can make the decision himself without waiting for orders from above. The questions can be sorted out afterwards.
Only targeting acts of terrorism
But in all other situations, it is the civilian police who make all the decisions. Should the military patrol witness any kind of ordinary crime, a theft or an assault, they can only try to detain the person until the police arrive. Nor are the military used to monitor demonstrations or riots. The reason for that is that it must not be perceived that the military is being used against the own population. Nobody wants to see soldiers open fire on ordinary French citizens.
The military therefore does not take over the duties of the police and it is very rarely that they actually need to intervene against terrorists. It is more of a safety-creating measure that the military is present at sensitive places such as synagogues and airports in a tense situation yet frees up police resources according to the operation leader, Captain Francois.
– Of course we relieve the police. We have tightened surveillance since October 7 due to the increased risk of attacks and our presence means that the police do not need to be there but can concentrate on their core tasks, he says.
The group of eight Alpine hunters moves in formation along the boulevards and narrow streets of Paris. With automatic weapons in hand, pistols in the belt and the same green camouflage uniforms used in the fight against terrorists in Mali. A sight that was initially perceived as frightening.
In Sweden, it has long been unthinkable to have heavily armed military on the streets and squares in peacetime, but the government has opened up for changes. They are already looking at what the military can help the police with without changing the law, but the government also wants to review whether it is appropriate to change the law so that the military can be more helpful to the police – for example by guarding various buildings.
Whether it will resemble the cityscape of Paris remains to be seen.
“Now the military is here children!”
Today, few Parisians even turn their heads when they encounter a heavily armed patrol. When the soldiers line up outside a school in the Jewish quarter, the school janitor Veronique Degoule, who is letting the children out, shouts cheerfully to the children:
– How nice! Now the military is here children!
We ask Veronique Degoule if it doesn’t feel unpleasant to be met by the military.
– Not at all, she replies. It feels safe. We feel calmer when the military is here. We’ve gotten used to seeing them.
Soldiers on the streets have become part of everyday life. What was initially a temporary intervention in the event of major acts of terrorism has now become an obvious part of the French fight against terrorism.
Since the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015, the operation, known as Operation Sentinelle, is a permanent mission that even in quieter periods assists with around 3,000 men guarding, for example, airports, and which next year will be an important part of the security arrangement at the summer Olympics in Paris.
During the Olympic Games, the alpine hunters from Annecy expect to be part of the 10,000-strong force that will guard Paris.
– Maybe that wasn’t what I had in mind when I chose to become a soldier. It’s not as exciting as Africa. But we feel that we are carrying out an important task, concludes Sergeant Pierre Emmanuell.