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French police foiled terror attack in Orleans region

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French police have foiled a jihadist attack on police and military personnel in the region of Orleans, according to the interior minister.

In the latest operation, two men aged 20 and 24 were detained on 19th of December and were being held for questioning. Both the suspects are believed to have been in contact with an Islamic State fighter, who is of French origin, currently thought to be in Syria.

One of the detainees confessed they had intended to attack police officers, army personnel and anyone associated with the French state particularly targeting the military barracks as well as police stations. The investigators think the suspects had been actively involved in raising funds for the plot and were searching for weapons.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said about 10 attacks have been foiled in France so far this year. The latest alleged plot south-west of the French capital Paris is under investigation and the local authorities are looking into whether the French national living in war-torn Syria ordered the attack.

One of the men arrested is reported to be of Moroccan descent, while the other is said to be from Tog. One suspect was reportedly unknown to the French police while the other one was known due to his previous criminal record.

The European state saw its worst attacks in decades last month, with 130 killed in Paris. Since then, France has beefed up the security situation nationwide including deployment of 1,500 soldiers in the most populous city of the country and introduced much more strict border patrols.

Furthermore, France has denied entry to more than 3,000 people due to the threat they pose to the security and public order after a state of emergency was declared in the wake of the Paris attacks. IMAGE/skynews

Refugees sew their lips up in protest at Idomeni border crossing

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Refugees stranded at the Idomeni border crossing sewed their lips together in a protest as they were refused to continue their journey.

A group of migrants stuck at the Idomeni border crossing launched protest against the process of filtering the refugees. The hunger strikers at the Greece-Macedonia border are among thousands of asylum seekers now trapped at borders.

About six men from Iran’s Kurdish minority sewed their mouths shut, scrawled messages such as “Just freedom” on their foreheads and chests. These men sat down on railway tracks in front of security forces. Men from Bangladesh and Morocco also joined the protests after they too were denied passage as they were classed as “economic migrants.”

The latest action by migrants stranded on the border follows days of protests. The recent border policy have triggered a build-up of refugees at Balkan borders, including some form the priority nations but without documents.

“At this moment the worst situation is at the Idomeni border crossing in Greece. where at least 2,000 Iranians, Moroccans and other nationals are stranded after the border was closed for everyone except Afghan, Syrian and Iraqi refugees,” said Milena Zajovic, spokesperson for the Are You Syrious group.

The European states including Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia and Serbia have renewed their border controls since the attacks in Paris on November 13, which killed at least 129 people. Last week, Balkan countries announced that they would only open their borders to people fleeing countries affected by war such as, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

The move to filter refugees came amid fears prompted by recent attacks in Paris that among the hundreds of thousands of refugees trying to escape war and persecution, there could be people planning attacks in Europe.

Rights groups have warned against conflating refugees with attackers from armed groups and have insisted asylum should not be granted by nationality but by merit. IMAGE/AFP