Two young French radical Islamists, including a teenager, have been jailed and charged with “terrorist operations” on suspicion of planning a jihadist-inspired attack, anti-terrorist prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old high school student wanted to carry out a knife attack without a specific goal and was in contact with other radicalized young people of his age who lived in Europe.
The 21-year-old high school student and the law student were charged in March and June respectively with criminal association in connection with a criminal terrorist enterprise.
“Two radicalized people who wanted to take action were arrested by the DGSI (counterintelligence, editor’s note) after extensive investigative and secret service work. Thank you to these men and women in the shadows for your commitment to protecting the French,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin tweeted.
It is the activities of the high school student in the social networks that have alerted the investigators of the Directorate General for Homeland Security (DGSI).
Investigators confiscated knives and a patch with the attributes of the Islamic State (IS) organization from his home.
Continuing their investigation, investigators discovered that the minor had been in contact with a law student living in a Paris suburb.
According to a source familiar with the matter, police found in the student’s phone a series of beheading and torture images that he allegedly sent to the student and determined that the two young men had had no contact with Daesh members.