France: Anti-Muslim incidents since Charlie Hebdo attacks near 2014 total

Anti-Muslim incidents in France following the jihadist attacks on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery have soared to almost the same level as incidents for the whole of 2014, according to a watchdog.

The National Observatory Against Islamophobia said that 33 acts against mosques and 95 threats were reported to French authorities since the shooting rampage which culminated on 9 January.

The figures represent a total of 128 incidents in the two weeks since the attacks in comparison with 133 in 2014.

Jim Wolfreys, senior lecturer at King's College London and expert on contemporary French politics, told IBTimes UK that in recent years France has seen "an exacerbation of tensions partly due to the extreme defensiveness of the republic in relation to the Muslim population".

"One of the dangers of the recent attack on Charlie Hebdo is that it will increase that stigmatisation and will further isolate France's Muslim population," he added.

Despite the increase in the acts against Muslims, a number of them were lauded after the attacks in the French capital.

The hashtag #JeSuisAhmed was used across social media channels in honour of the Muslim police officer who was killed while protecting the Charlie Hebdo offices.

Muslim supermarket worker, Lassana Bathily, has also been awarded French nationality after saving a number of Jewish customers when gunman Amedy Coulibaly attacked the store by hiding them in the freezer.