Eiffel Tower Evacuated After Bomb Threat

Police say the Eiffel Tower has been evacuated after an anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat. A Paris police official says nearly 1,400 people have been evacuated following a request from tower operators after the warning today. Police then searched the monument with sniffer dogs for possible explosives, and set up a broad security perimeter.

French authorities have stepped up counterterrorism measures in recent weeks amid heightened concern about threats to France over its military campaign against al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Mali, which began more than two months ago. The tower is occasionally evacuated because of such warnings—at least once last year and twice in 2011. The 1,063-foot tower is one of the world's top tourist attractions, with millions of visitors a year. (More Eiffel Tower stories.)