| Opération Sentinelle | |
| Partof: | Vigipirate |
| Location: | France |
| Planned By: | Ministry of Armed Forces |
| Objective: | Dealing with the terrorist threat and protect the sensitive "points" on land |
| Date: | – present |
Opération Sentinelle is an ongoing French military operation with 10,000 soldiers and 4,700 police and gendarmes deployed[1] since the aftermath of the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks, with the objective of protecting the deemed sensitive "points" of the territory from terrorism. It was reinforced during the November 2015 Paris attacks, and is part of a state of emergency in France due to continued terror threats and attacks,[2] [3] until the state of emergency ended on 1 November 2017.[4] On 13 October 2023, France raised its security alert to the highest level, and the day after it deployed 7,000 soldiers following the Arras school stabbing.[5]
Opération Sentinelle was first deployed after the January 2015 Île-de-France attacks, and was reinforced following the November 2015 Paris attacks, attacks which were claimed to have been perpetrated by the Islamic extremist groups Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. A number of other attacks have taken place in France since these attacks.[3]
Other European countries have also deployed soldiers to protect certain areas due to terror threats or attacks, including in Belgium,[6] Italy,[7] and the United Kingdom.[8]
On at least six occasions, soldiers involved in the nationwide operation have themselves been targeted.[3]
Soldiers deployed under Opération Sentinelle on 3 February 2017 blocked the assailant in the Louvre machete attack from entering the museum, where he claims to have intended to deface art with spray paint as a symbolic attack on France; he attacked the patrolling soldiers with a machete.[9]
In the March 2017 Île-de-France attacks, two Opération Sentinelle soldiers at Orly Airport killed a man who said "I am here to die for Allah"[10] while he beat to the floor another member of their team, a soldier from whom the attacker intended to steal her assault rifle.
On 9 August 2017 in the Levallois-Perret attack, six soldiers of the 35th Infantry Regiment[11] participating in Opération Sentinelle were intentionally wounded by an automobile whose driver fled.[12] The military were unable to make an armed response in time.[13]