French celebrate Bastille Day amid heightened security

Jets for the Patrouille de France fly over the Arc de Triomphe during the traditional Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 14, 2015. AP PHOTO/Michel Euler

PARIS — France is celebrating Bastille Day with a display of fighter jets and with anti-terror forces marching in the yearly parade in Paris for the first time as the country’s leadership tries to show its muscle against extremists.

The national holiday on Tuesday comes after the country was hit by terror attacks in January that killed 20 people, including the three attackers, and after an extremist beheaded his employer last month and caused an explosion that injured two people.

French President Francois Hollande presided over the yearly parade on the Champs-Elysees. Alongside him was his guest of honor, Mexico’s president Enrique Pena Nieto, whose government is smarting following the audacious prison break of a major drug lord.