France thwarts ‘imminent attack’

PARIS // Anti-terrorism forces arrested four people in southern France yesterday, including a 16-year-old girl, and uncovered a makeshift laboratory with explosive material and other ingredients for making a bomb.

France’s top security official said the arrests in the Montpellier area thwarted an imminent attack.

A police official said the teenager had pledged loyalty to ISIL in a recent video. The prosecutor’s office said about 70 grams of TATP were seized in the home of a 20-year-old man, along with a litre each of acetone, oxygenated water and sulphuric acid. TATP can be made from readily available materials.

Two other men were arrested, a 33-year-old and a 26-year-old, according to the prosecutor’s office, which handles terrorism investigations in France.

The police official said one of the suspects was believed to be planning a suicide attack but the investigation has yet to uncover a target. He said one person in the group had tried to reach Syria in 2015 and was known to intelligence services. The group – notably the girl – attracted 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.

Prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve praised the work of anti-terrorism investigators.

“There has been an extremely strong mobilisation of our intelligence services to ensure the French are protected to the utmost,” he said.

France is still under a state of emergency after several attacks.