PARIS (AP) — Anti-terrorism forces arrested four people Friday in southern France, including a 16-year-old girl, and uncovered a makeshift laboratory with the explosive TATP and other ingredients for fabricating a bomb. France’s top security official said the raid thwarted an “imminent attack.”
A police official said the teen had pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group in a recent video.
The prosecutor’s office said around 70 grams (2.5 ounces) of TATP were seized in the Montpellier-area home of a 20-year-old man, along with a liter each of acetone, oxygenated water and sulfuric acid. TATP, which can be made from readily available materials, was used in the deadly November 2015 attacks in Paris and the March 2016 attack in Brussels carried out by Islamic State extremists.
Two other men were arrested, a 33-year-old and a 26-year-old, along with the teenage girl, according to the prosecutor’s office, which handles terrorism investigations in France.
The police official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said one of the suspects was believed to be planning a suicide attack but that the investigation had not yet uncovered a specific target.
He said person in the group had tried to reach Syria in 2015 and was known to intelligence services. The group — notably the girl — attracted new attention with their social media postings, he said.
Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said the arrests in three locations in the Montpellier area “thwarted an imminent attack on French soil.”
The country’s prime minister praised the work of anti-terror investigators.
“Faced with the heightened threat, there has been an extremely strong mobilization of our intelligence services to ensure the French are protected to the utmost,” said Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
France is still under a state of emergency after several deadly attacks in 2015 and 2016.
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Turn them into martyrs. the sooner, the better.
Perhaps president Bannon will figure out a way to blame the existence of the terrorists on some judges so Trump can blurt it.
Good old fashioned police work. Hummm. Not as splashy as a Muslim Ban but far more effective.
This presents a problem to Trump and Co… Exploit it to fear-monger, or pretend they haven’t heard of it so they can then claim the media didn’t cover it? Choices, choices….
France has suffered far more from day-to-day terrorism than we have, but they are dealing with it in a relatively calm and rational manner. “Thwarts” are the result.
Meanwhile, Trump tries to capitalize by fear-mongering. He’s got people out in the most isolated areas of our nation, quite a few of whom have never even seen a Muslim, foaming at the mouth with rage.
I doubt that our president reads much, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that there’s a copy of Mein Kampf open on his desk 24/7 … and that Bannon has highlighted the “important” passages.