World Courant
A person has been arrested in southern France over a plan to assault a soccer stadium that can be used throughout this summer time’s Olympic Video games, officers say.
The 18-year-old of Chechen descent was arrested in Saint-Etienne on Could 22 after authorities discovered proof of an Islamist-inspired assault, officers mentioned.
Inside Minister Gérard Darmanin praised the intelligence providers for efficiently foiling the primary plot concentrating on the Video games.
France is on excessive alert within the run-up to the Olympic Video games, which begin on July 26.
Authorities haven’t named the person arrested final week.
In response to French media, he was arrested after exchanging coded messages with identified Islamists. Images and movies of the stadium had been additionally reportedly discovered on his cellphone and laptop.
Mr Darmanin mentioned the suspect wished to assault spectators and safety forces on the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, the town’s major stadium, the place quite a few soccer matches will happen.
He was “impressed by the Islamist” ideology, he added.
The Paris committee organizing the Olympic Video games praised the French authorities for his or her “effectivity”.
“We applaud the effectivity of the providers and their distinctive mobilization to make sure the security of the Video games,” the committee mentioned in an announcement to AFP information company.
The French authorities is deploying roughly 20,000 troopers and greater than 40,000 cops to make sure the safety of the Video games. It should additionally obtain assist from about 2,000 troops and cops from different international locations.
Safety providers have screened 1,000,000 individuals concerned within the Video games, together with athletes, residents dwelling close to the Olympic venues, medical employees and volunteers.
France has skilled a number of Islamist assaults lately.
In 2020, secondary trainer Samuel Paty was beheaded outdoors the varsity the place he taught in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine after exhibiting cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed throughout class.
His killer, 18-year-old Chechen Abdoullakh Anzorov, was shot lifeless on the spot by police.
