Last Sunday, a vehicle loaded with gas cylinders was found near Notre Dame cathedral, leading to the discovery of a plot to attack a Paris railway station under direction of the so-called Islamic State.
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The commando – including a 23-year-old woman who had been engaged at different times to two French extremists who carried out attacks this summer – illustrated how extensive new terror cells have been able to form in France since the November attacks that killed 130 in Paris last year.
A security official said on Sunday that France’s intelligence services “detected a threat” and a judicial official said police moved into action on Saturday fearing a planned attack this weekend.
A woman identified by authorities as Ornella G., was the first to be arrested, on Tuesday with a companion at a highway stop near the southern city of Orange.
Another of the women, who was arrested with her partner on a motorway on Tuesday, Ornella G., was formally placed under investigation on Saturday in connection with the auto found just over a week ago near Notre Dame Cathedral.
“Women, sisters, go on, attack”.
Paris anti-terror prosecutor Francois Molins said that when she was arrested, Madani had the keys to the vehicle in her bag, as well as a written pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
That followed two waves of attacks a year ago, notably the November 13 attacks on restaurants, bars, a concert hall and stadium that left 130 people dead.
“Everyone gets that. This past week at least two attacks were stopped”.
“A terrorist cell made up of young women totally receptive to the deadly ideology of Daesh has been dismantled”, Molins said at a news conference, using a name for IS, which is also known by the acronyms of ISIS and ISIL.
French police have arrested a 15-year-old boy suspected of planning an “imminent” terror attack.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is campaigning to return to office, wants special courts and detention facilities to boost security.
“We are involved in an extremely intense, round-the-clock mission to protect the French public, and we are getting results”, Cazeneuve said.
A total of 238 people in France have been killed and hundreds wounded since January 2015 in a string of attacks attributed to, or fomented by, the IS group.
A man arrested Thursday also had ties to the dead jihadi, Larossi Abballa, who filmed himself on Facebook Live pledging allegiance to Islamic State as he sat in the home of the dead officials, one of the officials said.
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Sources did not reveal why the teenager was under house arrest.
