A column of armed men with helmets advances slowly behind an armored vehicle towards the Draveil Police College, on the outskirts of Paris, during a simulation of a large-scale terrorist attack organized last week.
An hour earlier, four hooded assailants carrying assault rifles attacked the school’s main building, a 19th-century castle now shaken by tear gas and the sound of grenades.
When the RAID elite police alert team It leaves its base located about thirty kilometers away, intermediate units have already been deployed to the site.
In a situation report in the school parking lot, Captain Romain, head of the column, transmits to the team leaders the information collected by the first agents deployed, such as the location of the assailants, the number of victims and hostages.
A member of the intermediate units joins the elite RAID police officers to guide them in the assault.
“The idea is to work on interoperability between all police and fire services” involved in this “mass killing” exercise, explains Major Stéphane, who directs the operations.
Training does not occur only for the Olympic Games scheduled in Paris from July 26 to August 11, but held at least once a year. But the possibility of an attack of this nature is on everyone’s mind ahead of the big sporting event of the summer.
France “is particularly threatened” during the Olympic Games, said the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, whose country decreed the maximum level of alert after Friday’s attack on a Moscow concert hall, which left 139 dead.
This attack, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, recalled the scenes of terror experienced in November 2015, when three jihadist commandos killed 130 people on bar terraces and in the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, and near the Stadium of France, north of the capital.
For now, “we are not in the presence of a period of large-scale action,” said the director of the anti-terrorist prosecution, Jean-François Ricard.
But there is “a projected threat that is not at all negligible, especially that which is linked to IS,” he warned.
Deployed troops
During the Olympic fortnight, 200 RAID troops will be deployed daily. There will be a hundred agents alone for the opening ceremony in the Seine.
As they enter the building, the elite unit discovers a devastating sight, with the bodies of police students acting as extras lying on the floor stained with fake blood in the lobby and the spiral staircases that lead to the upper floors.
Behind a door, at the end of a hallway, an assailant is holding fifteen hostages. A video connection has been established with the RAID negotiators, installed two floors below.
When negotiations to achieve surrender fail, intervention is launched.
Agents slide a camera with a cable and a rotating head under the door to ensure that the assailant does not set up an ambush.
Then, thanks to an ingenious rope system, a specialist opens the door silently without placing himself in the range of the shots.
“Tango number 4”, the nickname of the fourth assailant, is finally “neutralized” and the hostages are released safely.
But at the same time, one last “hostile” element sows death in the bedrooms. The screams of children playing during recess at a nearby school give the scene a surreal atmosphere.
At the entrance to the building, the team’s drone operator maneuvers the aircraft, the images of which are broadcast live on his control panel.
Once confirmed that access to the hallways is “clear” and without immediate threats, the elite column enters accompanied by “Patton”, a Belgian shepherd who specializes in assaults.
The attacker is killed after an exchange of fire and the operation is concluded.
“It’s a rehearsal. We do this type of exercise very regularly [desde los atentados de 2015] so that the system is as well oiled as possible and now it has turned out perfectly,” celebrates Pierre, deputy head of the RAID operational support section.
“It is an issue that is already mature in the national police and is ready to manage the Olympic Games,” he says.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
