French Army enlistments triple in wake of attacks

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Applications to join the French army have soared since the Islamic State attacks on Paris, according to figures obtained by the newspaper Le Monde.

The military did not want to announce the figures during France’s three-day period of national mourning, but has now said requests for information and applications through its website had trebled from about 500 a day to about 1,500 since the 13 November attacks, the paper reported.

The series of suicide bombings and shootings at a popular music venue, the national stadium, cafes and restaurants killed 129 people from 19 countries, but most of the victims were French and many of them young, on a Friday night out.

“I’m staggered,” Col Eric de Lapresle, head of the army recruitment service’s marketing and communications department, told the paper. “This is an entirely unprecedented phenomenon.”

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