Documents with Arabic writing on were also found in the vehicle near the popular tourist attraction.
Advertisement
Two others officials, speaking on condition of anonymity since the investigation is ongoing, said an employee of a bar near Notre Dame Cathedral flagged the vehicle Sunday morning as it was parked along the Seine River.
The latest arrests came on Thursday morning in Montargis, 110 km south of Paris.
French police made a terrifying discovery near Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral on Wednesday. “They were not linked to any kind of fuse”, one source close to the investigation told l’Express.
Police were alerted to the auto when a resident rang in to say a vehicle had been poorly parked at 43 rue de la Bûcherie in the 5th arrondissement with its headlights on. No one was inside, but police found six canisters filled with gas in the trunk and an empty canister on one of the seats.
Another couple, suspected of links to radical Islam, was detained in a highway rest area near the southern city of Orange on Tuesday in the same case. After a nun managed to escape the church and alert authorities, Paris police arrived on scene and opened fire on the men, who did not survive. One of those taken into custody was already on the terrorism watch list, and both remain in custody at this time. All the others have been released.
Police briefly detained and questioned the vehicle owner before letting him go, the prosecutor’s office said.
So far the terrorist organisation has used AK47s and suicide vests to murder and maim in the French capital.
“Once they have bomb makers in place on our soil, they’ll be able to avoid sacrificing fighters while creating maximum damage”, he said at a parliamentary national defence committee meeting.
Many were placed by Israeli and Arab operatives who effectively bought the Israel-Palestine war on to the streets of Paris.
On Tuesday, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the “terrorist menace has never been so high”.
On November 13 past year, an ISIS suicide unit carried out a series of attacks that left 137 dead, including the perpetrators.
Advertisement
Although unmarked, investigators quickly traced the vehicle to its owner.
