French President Emmanuel Macron is holding a special meeting Wednesday aimed at creating a new counterterrorism unit, in the presence of government members and top security officials.
The French presidency said the defense council will outline details of a task force that will be in charge of coordinating counterterrorism efforts and intelligence services in the country.
The unit will be based at the Elysee palace, operational 24 hours a day and will act directly under the president’s authority — an unprecedented situation in the country, where some observers have denounced a lack of coordination between foreign and domestic intelligence services.
The creation of the task force was a campaign promise of Macron in a country marked by a series of attacks by Islamic extremists.