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France-UK border security stepped up

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Security has been stepped up on the France/UK border following the Paris terrorist attack on the magazine Charlie Hebdo which left 12 dead.


UK border staff had “intensified checks on passengers, on vehicles and goods coming from France” following the killings in France, home secretary Theresa May announced.


The move was a “precautionary” measure and was not as a result of any specific intelligence, she added.


Meanwhile, MI5 head Andrew Parker said police and MI5 had “stopped three UK terrorist plots” in recent months, according to the BBC.


He said the number of Britons who have travelled to Syria was now around 600.


Parker warned the UK was facing “more complex and ambitious plots” by extremists.


The shootings in Paris were “a terrible reminder of the intentions of those who wish us harm,” he said.


It comes after a number of anti-terrorism operations in the UK in recent months, including three foiled plots in the last three months.


“Deaths would certainly have resulted otherwise,” Parker added.


“But we cannot be complacent. Although we and our partners try our utmost we know that we cannot hope to stop everything.”


A huge manhunt for the two suspected gunmen in Wednesday’s deadly attack entered its third day.


French police are concentrating their search in a rural area of Picardy northeast of Paris where the two men reportedly robbed a petrol station.


The suspects, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, born in Paris of Algerian parents, were both on the US no-fly list, meaning they were barred from flying into the US, the BBC reported.

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