French authorities have decided to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with potential threats to the country after the recent terror attack in Moscow which left over 100 people dead.

French President Emmanuel Macron convened a defence and security meeting Sunday night at the Elysee Palace in the wake of the attack in Moscow, reported Xinhua.

"Given the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: attack emergency," posted  Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on X.

Moscow attack

The number of those killed in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region has risen to 143 people, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and the Rossiya Segodnya media group, said on Saturday (March 23, 2024).

"There are already more victims than in [the 2002] Nord-Ost [siege of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow]. 143 people [killed]. Oh, God, rest their souls," Simonyan said on Telegram as quoted by Sputnik.

A shooting occurred on Friday evening in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the city of Krasnogorsk, just outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire.

A Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the attack reported that at least three men in camouflage had broken into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs.

Eleven people were detained in connection with the attack, including four who were directly responsible, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. All four were detained in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, a few hours apart, the FSB added.