France ‘foils terrorist attacks’ on military sites, with the arrest of four people. (FR24).
Security forces prevented an attack on French military installations this week with the arrest of four people with links to jailed jihadists, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Wednesday.
The news of the arrests followed a statement from French President François Hollande, who said terrorist attacks had been foiled in recent days.
"This week, we stopped terrorist attacks which could have taken place," Hollande said on a visit to the French coastal city of Marseille.
The four suspects were aged between 16 and 23 and arrested in different places around France, Cazeneuve said. One was a former member of the navy.
A source close to the investigation into the thwarted attack, who asked to remain anonymous, said the four people arrested had been planning to film the decapitation of a member of the military in the south of France.
Their project, which the police have not yet provided, according to the press was to attack a military base near Perpignan, to kidnap them an officer and beheaded, to then transmit the images of this sordid execution.
How far these individuals were they prepared? Did they have the means of their operation? The remains unclear. Three details, however, are worrisome.
The alleged leader of the group is a former military "reformed of the Navy," which accredits the presence of former French soldiers in the ranks of jihadists as has been mentioned several times.
One of the organizers in the Daech group in Syria would be, among others, an ex-military. According to former journalist David Thomson, a terrorism expert, ten former recruits would be active in the combat zones of "Islamic state."
Second worrying information: the reference made by the four young people arrested in the attack against 'Charlie Hebdo', they apparently counted "commemorate" next January with their attack to honor Kouachi brothers, authors of the massacre, fell under police bullets. What could be feared other such operations.
Third point: the very young age of these activists, on which again further details will surely be revealed soon by justice, if they are indicted. Recently, a report by the socialist deputy Malek Boutih emphasized the problem of jihadist recruitment among French teenagers - or resident in France - Muslims. The proof was soon to come. One of the four suspects, who was identified as the mastermind, had been planning to travel to jihadist-controlled areas of war-torn Syria, Cazeneuve added in his statement.
He said their leader was in contact with known French jihadists who are currently in prison.
The arrests were made at dawn on Monday, the day before Bastille Day, France’s national public holiday. Read the full story here. More here in French.
