The Unending Disquiet After Attacks in Paris
The French capital suffered a wave of violence in 2015 and 2016, and while the years since have been more peaceful, a recent attack resurfaced unease.
In comparison to the murderous years of 2015 and 2016, when terrorists killed more than 200 people in Paris and Nice and wounded hundreds of others, last week’s attack at the French capital’s police headquarters, in which four people died, was almost modest, if grim. The assault lasted all of seven minutes. The city wasn’t put on lockdown. And yet it may turn out to be France’s most dangerous attack yet, because it struck the heart of the French state.
Its perpetrator, a convert to Islam who was shot dead during the attack, was a computer technician with a security clearance and the confidential files
