Bomb Plot Foiled

Four people including a girl of 16 have been arrested with bomb-making materials by anti-terrorist police in the southern French city of Montpellier. Home-made explosives like those used in the Paris attacks of November 2015 were found. The girl had made jihadist declarations online. Since the beginning of 2015, at least 230 people have been killed in jihadist attacks in France. Last month, a soldier received minor injuries when a machete-wielding man tried to enter the Louvre museum in Paris. The man, a 29-year-old Egyptian named as Abdullah Hamamy, was shot and critically injured.

'Adherence to IS'

France has been battling so-called Islamic State (IS) and other Islamist militants for the past two years. One of the Montpellier detainees was a would-be suicide attacker. The four arrested are suspected of plotting an imminent attack. They were planning to attack a tourist site in Paris and  were arrested after buying acetone. Acetone is an ingredient used in the making of Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP), a high explosive.

TATP, the same explosive used in bomb vests worn by militants in the Paris attacks, was found in the city along with the acetone. The girl suspect had been spotted on social networks saying she wanted to leave for the Syria-Iraq conflict zone or mount an attack in France instead.

She recorded a video in which she pledged allegiance to so-called Islamic State (IS). The country's top constitutional court struck down a law which penalised those who consult jihadist websites. The Constitutional Council found that the law infringed on people's freedom of communication unnecessarily.