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France's intelligence chief has warned that the country should expect more direct and violent hostile action on its own soil, citing the explosive drone found at Leipzig airport.

It comes as the Kurdish-led SDF dissolves itself into Syria's army, and as Iran's currency falls to an all-time low under new US sanctions.

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Major Story

🇫🇷🇷🇺 France warns of more violent attacks on its soil

Céline Berthon, director-general of France's DGSI domestic intelligence service, said the country should expect more violent attacks as hybrid warfare and foreign interference intensify across Europe.

Speaking at the Medef business conference in Paris on Wednesday, she said the discovery of an explosive drone at Leipzig airport, a key logistics hub for military equipment bound for Ukraine, "serves as a warning that we must consider the possibility of direct, more violent hostile actions on our national soil".

Berthon did not name Russia over Leipzig, but said earlier in her speech that the hardening of Moscow's posture was a major element of concern, and that France had seen a dramatic and significant increase in acts of interference on its territory since 2022.

She cited symbolic assaults such as the spraying of Stars of David on buildings in Paris, along with disinformation campaigns run by Russia-affiliated networks.

"All of this is part of the onset of a war that is not a physical war, that is not a military war, that is not necessarily publicly acknowledged as targeting our soil, but already features attacks against our country," she said, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his government was "working intensively" to identify who was behind the Leipzig attack, which has not been attributed to anyone.

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