News Analysis: France facing uphill task to head off terror

France was attacked again, only eight months after the devastating November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.

At least 84 people were killed on Thursday night when a truck smashed into a crowd in the southern city of Nice during national day celebrations. Around half of the injured were in critical condition.

"We are at war," French President Francois Hollande had said after the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks.

Sadly, the French people this time have to hear similar remarks again.

"We are facing a war that terrorism is inflicting on us," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Friday morning after a meeting.

However, why did France suffer another deadly terrorist attack after anti-terror measures have been strengthened, a nationwide state of emergency declared and the terror alert raised to its maximum level since the 2015 carnage?

Actually, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned in May that the terrorist threat remains "very high" in France.

While commenting on Monday that the country's hosting of the Euro 2016 football tournament was a success, Cazeneuve stressed again that "the terrorist threat remains" in France.

The minister also spoke highly of the accomplishment of the country's intelligence services, noting that some 150 people had been arrested in France for "terrorist activities" so far in 2016.

However, a French parliamentary investigation into last year's terrorist attacks on Paris has identified multiple failings by France's intelligence agencies.

The parliamentary commission was set up to assess the failure to prevent a series of attacks that killed a total of 147 people in 2015.

The commission highlighted a "global failure" of French intelligence and recommended a total overhaul of the intelligence services.

"Our country was not ready; now we must get ready," said Georges Fenech, head of the commission.

All the extremists involved in the attacks had been previously flagged to authorities, according to the commission. Some had past convictions, or were under judicial surveillance in France or in Belgium when they struck Paris.

The report said there had also been failings in surveillance when convicted radicalized criminals were released from prison.

Though the French authorities have yet to officially identify the truck driver, the 31-year old suspect was believed to be known to police for violence and weapons offences, and the truck he used in the attack was hired several days ago.

Meanwhile, questions about the competence of the French security operation have been raised, as many fans were able to smuggle fireworks into games at the football tournament despite heightened security, and there are still no security checks in the metro system of Paris.

Though French and Belgium police had managed to foil a wave of terror attacks planned for the Euro 2016 tournament, terrorist incidents still happened before the tournament began as a man convicted for terrorist offences and claiming allegiance to the Islamic State stabbed a French police commander to death.

Analysts said that the anti-terrorism operation in France is an uphill battle, as lone-wolf terrorists are a nightmare for the counterterrorism organizations, police and intelligence communities as they are extremely difficult to detect and stop.

Hollande pledged to adopt tougher anti-terror measures after the Nice attack and recommended that the existing state of emergency be extended for three more months.

However, analysts said that France, as well as the whole Western world, is likely to be haunted by the threat of terrorism for a long time, unless the internal and external environment of the country undergoes fundamental changes. Endi