France to deploy Sentinelle troops ahead of October 24 protests

French authorities said they will deploy military personnel to support police for the protests scheduled on October 24. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu warned the police deployment for Saturday "will be massive", and acknowledged that during the unrest on October 17 the force had been "static and insufficiently mobile".

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told regional police prefectures to prepare for the demonstrations and announced that part of the army would be assigned to reinforce law enforcement during the planned protests.

What the government said about the military role

"We will deploy the Sentinelle forces as a replacement for internal security forces, mainly to free up the police and the gendarmerie in their mission to maintain order," Nunez said, describing the military’s role as freeing up police resources rather than taking over public-order duties.

Operation Sentinelle is an anti-terrorist deployment created in January 2015 by then‑President Francois Hollande after the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Its stated mission is the protection of sensitive locations such as synagogues, churches, schools, railway stations, airports and tourist sites.

The French government has frequently activated Sentinelle to provide largely static security during mass unrest and protests, with the aim of releasing police and gendarmerie units for active crowd‑control duties.

Meanwhile in Italy, Vice‑Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said his government will send an additional 500 soldiers to "defend Milan" after violent protests over public services and rising living costs. Italian police reported that 271 young people were arrested during the unrest in Milan; the disturbances followed clashes the previous Saturday in other northern cities including Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo and Turin.

Photo: press material from the event