France Mobilizes 115,000 Security Officers After Paris Attacks

MOSCOW (Sputnik) –The defense minister said 128 nationwide raids were conducted overnight, a day after some 170 raids yielded a rocket launcher and several arrests.

“We mobilized 115,000 police officers, gendarmes, military across the country to ensure France's security,” Cazeneuve told the France Info radio station.

French warplanes launched airstrikes on the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group stronghold in Raqqa, Syria in retaliation to deadly terror attacks, the French Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The Rafale and Mirage 2000 fighter jets dropped 16 bombs in an overnight attack coordinated with US forces.

On November 13, a series of coordinated attacks at various locations in the French capital left over 130 dead and 350 injured, prompting President Francois Hollande to declare a state of emergency, increase defense spending and step up national anti-terror security.

A manhunt is underway for the alleged mastermind of the Paris massacres, Belgian-born Abdelhamid Abaaoud, thought to be in Syria. Another suspect is said to be French native Salah Abdeslam, who is thought to have rented a vehicle used in the deadly shootings.