Parts of central Paris were cordoned off on Saturday (September 17) after a false alarm triggered a major security operation, French police said. <br /> <br />French government security alert app -- SAIP -- warned citizens that a police operation was under way in Saint-Leu church in the busy shopping district of Chatelet and advised people to stay away. <br /> <br />Interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, issued a statement confirming the false alarm and said that "the circumstances around the intervention" had yet to be determined. <br /> <br />More than one hundred police officers, including elite units, carried out the operation and the area was reopened to traffic after it became evident that there was no danger, a Reuters witness said. <br /> <br />Security forces had responded to a call that claimed hostages had been taken in Saint-Leu church, interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told BFM TV. <br /> <br />As the operation took place, the church's priest and a number of people were evacuated, and emergency services made sure there was no assailant, Brandet said. <br /> <br />France is on high alert for security threats after a series of attacks by Islamist militants that have killed more than 230 people since January 2015.
