Two 23-year-old men were arrested and placed under investigation for a “serious and imminent” jihadist attack. According to sources of the investigators, they wanted to stab random passers-by to “die as martyrs” at the hands of the French armed forces. According to Le Parisien, one of the two admits to having talked about the project with the other, while the latter denies everything. One of the two is known to the police for his radicalization.
The two 23-year-olds were under surveillance by the secret services, which had intercepted some of their exchanges on the Internet during which they talked about their plan in the name of Islam, revealed Le Parisien, according to which the suspects in recent weeks had also met in person. Their target would be a mall or a busy shopping street to hit as many people as possible. The two were arrested in Meaux (department of Seine-et-Marne) and Pecq (Yvelines) by agents of the DGSI last November 29 and charged with “association with a criminal terrorist organization” on December 3.
In the searches of their homes, knives, computers and mobile phones were seized, in which ‘important’ jihadist propaganda was found. During the interrogations, one of the two young people confessed that he wanted to kill “infidels” and that he wanted to die as a martyr, claiming his belonging to ISIS. The other arrested, on the other hand, denied any accusation.