Up to 82 workers hired to bolster security at Euro 2016 are on French terror watch lists, it has been claimed, as fears grow of an ISIS attack during the event. French intelligence chiefs have screened 3,500 staff brought in to ensure the safety of fans at the tournament. The 82 people highlighted on watch lists could ‘by definition’ either belong to a terror group or have a background of ‘questionable behaviour or extreme beliefs on either the left or right’, it has been reported.
French publication Le Point revealed the 3,500 recruits were screened by French intelligence agency the Directorate General of Internal Security, RT reports. It comes after the head of the EU’s law enforcement agency warned there is a ‘high threat’ of an ISIS terror attack at Euro 2016. Europol director Rob Wainwright said last week he had ‘no doubt’ the football tournament would be a target for the terror group.
The U.S. government had earlier issued a travel alert to Americans, warning of the risk of potential attacks throughout Europe.
Mr Wainwright, from Wales, said: ‘I have no doubt that the Euros are on a potential target list for ISIS, for obvious reasons. ‘That’s a pretty obvious assumption. The threat is high, I think.’ But he said the the risk is ‘not necessarily high’ given the massive security operation set to be mounted by the French authorities. Euro 2016 will take place amid an atmosphere of high alert following atrocities in Paris and Brussels.
Last November, 130 people were killed when terrorists launched co-ordinated attacks on the French capital, targeting bars, restaurants and the national stadium, the Stade de France. Then in March, 32 people died when Brussels was hit by suicide bombings at the airport and on the Metro.
