The terrorist attacks that took place in Paris on the night from November 13 to 14, in which 132 people were killed and more than 200 were injured, involved unidentified gunmen who opened fire at a restaurant in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, three explosions occured near the Stade de France, where at the time President Francois Hollande was watching a football match between the French and German national teams. In addition, the suicide bombers attacked the Bataclan theatre, which was hosting a concert of the American band Eagles Of Death Metal.
A military observer of the TASS news agency, retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin, in conversation with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza said that Paris was chosen as a target because radical Islamists believe this city is the root of all evil that exists in the world.
"The special forces of France should have their own informants in all the structures of these organizations, it is not too difficult, because these terrorists can betray any one of their colleagues for money. The fact that the French police and intelligence services were not aware of the forthcoming attacks shows their poor training and unwillingness to fight terrorism. The Paris lesson is a lesson for all of us, for all the secret services and the entire population of Europe and other countries. It is a requirement to be vigilant and understand that there is a war, it is necessary to take preventive measures, not "hit the tails" after terrorist attacks," the military observer believes.
"In addition, it is necessary to carry out educational programs, because ignorant, downtrodden, humiliated and deceived people are the basis for future terrorists. We have to be active, to help people at risk to develop and form, to solve their social problems, to prevent the social inequality that gives birth to new terrorists," Victor Litovkin concluded.
The president of the International Association of Veterans of the Alpha Anti-terror Unit, Sergey Goncharov, in his turn, said that this is not the first terrorist attack which took place in the French capital. "The French intelligence agencies treated previous attacks in a perfunctory manner and did not reach any serious conclusions. They haven't built a system that would prevent terrorist attacks. Everybody knows that many French citizens have already visited Syria and returned to Paris. Therefore, the militants of Islamic State felt that Paris is the best place for a large-scale strike which can shake the whole world," he explained.
"Many of the gangs in the North Caucasus have already sworn allegiance to IS. In addition, a number of countries of the former Soviet Union - Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan - where the level of security is of huge concern, are located close to us. So we must be on guard and must not relax in any case," Sergey Goncharov concluded.
