The threat of a jihadist attack in France has reached a level "without precedent" and new attacks are inevitable, top counter-terrorism officials have said, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
"The threat is permanent," said one high-level official in the defence ministry.
"Not one day goes by without an alert, the discovery of a network trying to send people to Syria or Iraq, or an intervention [by the security services].
"The number of targets has exploded. There are two or three thousand, maybe four thousand, people identified or suspected of evil intentions."
Nor are they all amateurs, the source added - many are highly educated. "They are pros, not dropouts," he said.
Defence ministry specialists say the jihadists "use the best encryption and concealment techniques" and that security services are "playing catch-up".
"Every time we get our hands on a network, we see they are each using seven or eight SIM cards, changing them constantly. And the most cunning don't go near phones at all - they use messengers."
The biggest concerns relate to the estimated 200 individuals who have returned from training or fighting in areas held by the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
"They have lost all inhibitions about violence," said another top counter-terrorism official.
Officials also fear that competition between militant groups may drive them to ever-more brutal acts.
Read more of this AFP report published by the Sydney Morning Herald.