New Year's celebrations in Paris and across Europe are under tight security because of the heightened terror threat, reports RFI.
The French capital abandoned its traditional firework display on the famous Champs Elysées boulevard, calling in no fewer than 11,000 police to patrol the festivities. Despite this, many revellers are determined to ring in the New Year with a bang.
It's the biggest celebration of the year, but in France, as elsewhere in Europe, many revellers are having to rein in their festivities to combat the terror threat.
In and around the French capital, an unprecedented 11,000 police will be deployed to guarantee the safety of Parisians and tourists. That's an extra 2,000 compared to last year. And across the country, security operations will be manned by a whopping 60,000 officers!
"This has never been seen before," France's defence minister Jean Yves Le Drian said on Thursday. "We're taking every precaution necessary to ensure that the passage of the New Year goes well, but we must remain extremely vigilant", he added.
This vigilance nonetheless, is taking its toll on French security forces. The head of France's second police union Frederic Lagache, on Wednesday stipulated that his colleages were "at the end of their tether."
Security forces have been working around the clock since the January 11 Charlie Hebdo attacks, and more recently in the wake of the November 13 terror attacks, which forced the government to impose tough emergency measures.
Overwhelmed and exhausted, many officers will no doubt be hoping that things will ease up in 2016. In the mean time, the government has offered some light entertainment at least to those who covered the recent Paris attacks, with a free concert at Bercy theatre hall.