Terrorism fears rise in France after attacks

(CNN) - French authorities are deploying hundreds of extra soldiers across the country to boost security after a string of attacks.

They don't believe the incidents are related, but the attacks have the entire country on edge after a string of unnerving incidents. 

A man brandishing a knife rushes a police station, wounding three officers in a suburb in central France. He's later identified as a Muslim convert.

Sunday, in Dijon, a driver on a rampage, injuring 11 pedestrians. He's heard to shout "Allahu Akbar" - or God is great.

On Monday it was Nantes. Another driver. Another rampage. This time at a Christmas market. This time, one person is killed. Later that evening, shots are fired at a synagogue in Paris.

French police say the attacks are unrelated.

And while the motives remain unclear, there are new fears about terrorism, including lone wolf attacks linked to the jihadist campaign in Iraq and Syria.

Especially given the hundreds of Europeans who've traveled to the Middle East to join ISIS. The French prime minister acknowledged those concerns.

"When 1,200 French individuals or residents have links to jihad, when nearly 380 are present in Syria and are active in terrorist groups and learning terrorism and horror, then of course let me emphasize there is a threat of proportions never seen before,â said Manuel Valls, the French prime minister.

That threat of course is not limited to France.

And across Europe the fear is manifesting itself in different ways.

In Dresden in Germany for weeks now thousands of protesters have been meeting on Mondays in increasingly popular anti-Islam marches.

The latest drew 15,000 people. A loose coalition of the anti-immigrant, the right wing and those claiming to fear what they call "Islamization."

The German chancellor has condemned the demonstrations but some worry that attacks like these in France are likely to further boost their cause.

Under the pall of what a local paper called "fear over Christmas,â the prime minister is urging calm, saying hundreds of additional military personnel would be ordered onto the streets to reinforce those already on duty.

Meanwhile, at the market in Nantes, shoppers have returned, wearing white armbands in solidarity with the victims.

"We are not scared. We must come back. We have no choice,â one woman said.

A show of resolve even as so many remain on edge and on alert.

Source http://wdam.com/wdam/pm_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=od:k11QOQli