May 18, 2024 01:18 (IST)
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John Kerry meets Hollande, shows solidarity with France
Paris, Jan 16 (IBNS): US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday met French president Francois Hollande in Paris and showed solidarity with the people of France in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in the country.
Kerry, during the meeting with Hollande, said: "I think you know that you have the full and heartfelt condolences of the American people, and I know you know that we share the pain and the horror of everything you went through. We appreciate your comments about our common history with respect to terrorism. But the American people watch you and your team, and indeed all of the government lead with great elegance and grace in this week, during this difficult time."
"And we watched the people of France come together with a great sense of purpose and unity. It was a great lesson to the world, I think. And once again, France, through its commitment to freedom and to the passion of ideas, has made an important statement to the world," he said.
Kerry also paid respects to the victims of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo attack, in which 12 people were killed.
"Paid respects and honored the courageous victims of last week's senseless acts of terror at #CharlieHebdo & #HyperCacher," Kerry tweeted.
Meanwhile, French and German authorities arrested at least 12 people on Friday in connection with suspected links to the Islamic State group.
A Paris train station was also evacuated and the entire Europe is on alert for new potential terrorist attacks, reports said.
Earlier, two suspected terrorists were killed in a gun battle near the German border on Thursday as Belgium stepped up its efforts against subversive modules with police raids, arrests and a heightened alert-level across the country, media reports said.
The authorities said that a man suspected of links to last week’s deadly terror attacks in Paris had been arrested in southern Belgium.
According to reports, the gun battle took place in Verviers - a town located about 75 miles east of Brussels.
The police were met with bursts of semi-automatic gunfire while closing in on several suspects on early Thursday evening. After several minutes the shooters were “neutralized” with two suspects dead and a third wounded and in custody. No police officers or civilians were injured in the gun battle.
Officials declined to provide further details about the raid saying the investigation is still on. They said that the terror alert level for the country had been raised to 3 on a 4-point scale.
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