Bastille Day military parade marches amid tight security - France 24

Bastille Day military parade marches amid tight security - France 24:



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© Dominique Fajet, AFP | Alphajet aircraft from the French elite acrobatic flying team Patrouille de France release smoke in the colours of the French national flag during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees.

Text by FRANCE 24 

Latest update : 2016-07-14

A grand military parade down the Champs Elysées in Paris on Thursday included members of the French army, intelligence services, legionnaires and others for the annual Bastille Day celebrations marking the start of the 1789 French Revolution.

The procession took place under high surveillance this year, with France remaining under an official state of emergency until July 26 in wake of the November 2015 attacks.

“Some 3,000 police officers were mobilised to secure the parade zone,” FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris-Trent reported from the sidelines of the spectacle.

In all, 55 aircraft, 30 helicopters and 212 armoured vehicles made their way down the Champs Elysées to Place de la Concorde, where French President François Hollande surveyed the troops joined by New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key and US Secretary of State John Kerry.