French, British schools on alert after bomb threats

PHOTO: AFP

PARIS: Around 20 schools in France and Britain were placed on bomb alert Thursday following another round of telephone threats, the second in a week.

Police were sent to secure five of the most prestigious schools in Paris after bomb threats were phoned in, and British police said they were probing threats at 14 schools in central England believed to be “false and malicious.”

“At this stage there is nothing to suggest there is any credible threat to any of the schools,” said Detective Inspector Colin Mattinson of the West Midlands police, the force that covers the city of Birmingham.

British media said four schools in London had been evacuated, although this was not confirmed.

The threats come two days after six Paris schools and 14 in Britain were evacuated on Tuesday following hoax bomb threats.

Those threats were claimed by a Twitter account calling itself the Evacuation Squad, with a profile picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The account featured previous messages in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“We are 6 individuals based internationally,” reads the profile blurb, advertising its services to call in bomb threats.

The account has since been suspended.