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Armed Guards to Patrol French Beaches this Summer


People sit on the Terre Sacree beach in Ajaccio on June 25, 2016 on the French island of Corsica.
People sit on the Terre Sacree beach in Ajaccio on June 25, 2016 on the French island of Corsica.

Police officers armed with automatic pistols will patrol France's beaches for the first time this summer, a national police spokesman said on Wednesday.

Around 100 police officers will carry the pistols, rather than the customary telescopic truncheons, when sent on beach safety duties for the peak summer season, the official said.

"This is not about a specific terrorist threat to France's beaches but rather a decision to increase security generally given the very high threat level nationwide," the official said.

Many French beaches are staffed during the July-August peak holiday period with lifeguards and a small team of safety and health staff headed up by an officer from the CRS riot police department.

France is on high security alert after Islamist militants killed 130 people in attacks in Paris last November.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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