Muslims in France gripped by fear and distress after Paris ill-fated attacks

The members of the Muslim community residing in France and especially Algerians are currently living in a state of fear and worry, after the series of bloody terrorist attacks that hit Paris last Friday.

In fact, this fear is palpable after the manifold raids carried out by French army troops and police forces in mostly Muslim neighborhoods in an attempt to flush out suspects in the case.

In a telephone interview with “Echorouk”, members of the Algerian community settled in Grenoble, Saint Etienne and Paris Saint-Denis, said that they are grappling with a poisonous atmosphere due to these intensive raids into their neighborhoods. This has spawned widespread discontent because they feel stigmatized and directly targeted.

According to Manuel Valls, the French Prime Minister, the police conducted more than 150 raids in search of suspected radical Islamists, which led to the arrest of over 100 people, including 3 in Bobigny and 3 others in Toulouse, one of them of Algerian origin, in addition to the discovery of weapons and drugs.

In the suburbs of Lyon, the security forces conducted 13 raids, which led to the arrest of 5 people including 2 of Algerian and Tunisian origins, in addition to the discovery of several pistols, a machine gun and a rocket launcher.

According to a press statement made by Yves Le Drian, the French defense minister, the security services have identified a suspect as the mastermind who planned Friday’s ill-fated attacks.

He’s been identified as Abdsalam Salah, a young Frenchman of 25, who is actively wanted by the Belgian and French police and elsewhere in Europe.

In the same context, Cazeneuve, the French interior minister, confirmed that investigations are still continuing with the questioning of 7 family members and friends of Mostefaoui Omar, the bomber of the Bataclan auditorium in Paris where 89 people were murdered, the highest death toll of these bloody attacks.

Mrs Taubira, the French Minister of Justice, confirmed for her part that these simultaneous attacks in six different places of Paris were the work of professionals and that they had been planned by the “Daesh” terror group which is seeking to spread chaos and fear among Europeans.