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France has sent Special Forces to guard mines in Niger which supply most of the uranium for the French nuclear power industry. Back home, the government has increased the terror alert to its second-highest level, and has reinforced security at key government and tourist sites. There are fears of retaliation at home and abroad following France's intervention in Mali. A trickle of visitors is braving the icy Paris winter to ascend the 320 meters of the Eiffel Tower. On the ground and on the levels above, armed troops patrol day and night. France has deployed more than 700 soldiers across the capital as fears grow over the potential for reprisals following the military intervention in Mali. Calls for retaliation An array of Islamic jihadi websites are calling for attacks on France, says Jean-Charles Brisard, a French terrorism expert and former chief investigator for the 9/11 families. “They are calling for retaliations in Africa, because they can carry them out in Africa - their own retaliation by these groups - but for France they’re calling for the emergence of new ‘Mohammed Merahs’ - that means they essentially are relying on home-grown terrorism," said Brisard. That has a deep resonance in France, just 10 months after three soldiers and four Jewish citizens were killed in a series of attacks in the southern city of Toulouse. The gunman, French-born Mohammed Merah, said he was partly motivated by the presence of French soldiers in Afghanistan. | 
