British police are to step up security in Jewish areas of the country after reports of hostages being taken at a Paris kosher supermarket, a Jewish community body said on Friday.
The Community Security Trust (CST), which provides security advice to Britain’s estimated 260,000 Jews, said police in London and Manchester in northern England had agreed to increase patrols at synagogues and other venues over the next days.
A man armed with automatic weapons seized several hostages in Paris’s Vincennes district, two days after an attack on the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly left 12 dead.
“There is currently no known link to the UK, but CST is in continuing contact with police and government, and there will be increased policing in Jewish neighborhoods for this weekend’s Sabbath,” the trust said on its website.
Last July, the CST said anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had risen amid fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Gaza.
