Terror plots targeting Paris Olympics have been foiled by French intelligence agents
TERROR plots targeting the Paris Olympics have been foiled by French intelligence agents.
They have been linked to an Afghanistan-based off-shoot of IS.
The Games are due to open on July 26 and millions of visitors, including many from Britain, are expected to flood into the French capital.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said “several arrests” had been made in connection with at least two separate cases. He added: “They are being handed over to the justice authorities.”
It comes as France braced itself for the results of today’s parliamentary election — with tensions high as the far-right National Rally led opinion polls.
An investigating source said the plot was foiled by the General Directorate of Internal Security, saying it was working “night and day to ensure the safety of Olympics spectators”.
The source added those arrested are believed to be connected to Afghan organisation Khorasan, which has ties to IS.
The Islamic extremist group was blamed for the suicide bomb attack on the Stade de France, focal point of this year’s Olympics, in November 2015.
One man was killed, and 63 others injured, before more atrocities were committed around Paris.
Another Khorasan suspect, an 18-year-old Chechen asylum seeker, was arrested in May.
He was suspected of plotting an attack on the stadium of top French football team Saint-Etienne, in eastern France.
The investigation “opened up links with other suspects,” the investigation source says.
The suspect has since been indicted on a range of terror-related charges.