GETTY France will deploy more troops on the streets during the festive season

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Bruno Le Roux said that there were currently more than 7,000 heavily armed ‘Sentinelle’ soldiers patrolling France’s streets. But the interior minister said up to 3,000 additional troops would be deployed to protect sensitive targets, such as airports, stations, Christmas markets, and places of worship, including churches and synagogues. The interior minister told the French radio station RTL that Islamic State militants still posed a “serious threat” and that the country remained on “high alert” following the string of bloody terrorist attacks on French soil.

More than 230 people have been killed in jihadist attacks orchestrated by ISIS in less than two years. In November 215, 130 people were killed in the Paris terror attacks, and 86 people died in Nice during this year’s July 14 Bastille Daycelebrations. Mr Le Roux added that he wanted people to make the most of the “joy-filled” end-of-year festivities, despite the looming terror threat. He said: “I want the streets to be teeming with tourists and I want the French to be able to go out and have fun. But, in order to make that happen, we need to keep people 100 per cent safe.”

GETTY French interior minister Bruno La Roux

Earlier this week, Mr Le Roux said that 16 potential attacks had been foiled this year thanks to the extra search and arrest powers granted to police under the state of emergency, which is to be extended for the fifth time in a row before the end of this week.

We need to keep people 100 per cent safe Bruno Le Roux

But less than two weeks after his surprise nomination, Mr Le Roux, a former Socialist lawmaker, is already running into trouble. The new interior minister has been placed on Azerbaijan’s ‘blacklist’ and slapped with a travel ban.

Paris Terror Attack 2015: One year on Sun, November 13, 2016 Terrorists slaughtered 130 people during a series of coordinated terror attacks in Paris on Friday 13th November 2015. The attacks took place at the Bataclan concert hall, Boulevard Voltaire, Belle Equipe bar, rue Fontaine au Roi, Petit Cambodge restaurant, and Le Carillon bar. Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 86 French President Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo lay a wreath of flowers as they unveil a commemorative plaque next to the

GETTY The troops are being deployed to stop attacks such as those iin Paris where 130 people died

GETTY On Bastille Day this year 86 people died in the Nice attacks