Ten years after Bataclan, France faces reminder of persistent extremism

Published: 13 November 2025 | The English Chronicle Desk | The English Chronicle Online

France remains on high alert against a threat that refuses to fade, a decade after the Bataclan terror attacks that left the nation traumatised. The anniversary has coincided with the arrest of a 27-year-old French woman, Maëva B, a recent convert to Islam and former girlfriend of Salah Abdeslam — the only surviving member of the 2015 jihadist cell.

Abdeslam, serving a life sentence for his role in the attacks, reportedly exchanged letters with Maëva B while imprisoned near the Belgian border. When guards discovered he possessed a USB stick loaded with extremist propaganda, investigators traced it back to her. A search of her devices revealed potential plans for a violent act, leading to her arrest along with two alleged accomplices.

The development has reignited concerns about the enduring jihadist threat within France. On 13 November 2015, a coordinated wave of shootings and bombings across Paris — including the Stade de France and the Bataclan concert hall — killed 130 people and injured hundreds more. The attackers, mostly young men of North African descent radicalised in Europe and trained by Islamic State, operated with the help of a wide support network.

Security experts say French intelligence has since become far more adept at monitoring online radicalisation. Middle East scholar Gilles Kepel told Le Figaro that digital surveillance tools now allow authorities to detect and prevent many unsophisticated threats. However, he warned that the real risk now comes from what he calls “ambient jihadism” — home-grown extremism spread through social circles and social media rather than structured commands.

Kepel cautioned that this modern threat is amplified by current geopolitical tensions, such as the war in Gaza, and by France’s own political divisions. “If what separates us becomes more important than what unites us, the ground will open beneath our feet,” he warned.

Commemorations on Thursday will take place across Paris, including at the Bataclan, with the day concluding in the opening of a memorial garden near City Hall. The Eiffel Tower will be illuminated in the national colours of red, white, and blue.

Meanwhile, Salah Abdeslam has reportedly expressed willingness to take part in a “restorative justice” process, where offenders meet victims to discuss the impact of their crimes. The proposal has divided survivors and victims’ families.

Laurent Sourisseau, the Charlie Hebdo cartoonist known as Riss who was wounded in the 2015 attacks, dismissed the idea. “Restorative justice is for ordinary crimes,” he said. “Terrorism is not a common crime. Abdeslam wants us to think it was — but it was not.”