London: French security services have arrested a teenager suspected of plotting an Islamic State-inspired attack during the Paris Olympic Games, officials said on Friday.
An 18-year-old man from Chechnya, who wanted “to die and become a martyr”, was said to be targeting the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Étienne, which will hold football matches during the Games to be held from July 26 to August 11.
Police officers patrol the Trocadero plaza near the Eiffel Tower in October 2023. Security authorities have foiled a plan to attack soccer events during the Paris Olympics.Credit: AP
France is on its highest terror alert level ahead of the Games, when about 10 million visitors and 10,000 athletes are expected. The events will be held mostly in the capital, but other towns and cities around the country will also host some disciplines as well as individual games.
The domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, arrested the teen in Saint-Étienne, south-west of Lyon, on May 22, authorities said, calling it the “first foiled attack against the Olympic Games”.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the suspect “intended to attack spectators” but also security forces to “die and become a martyr”, adding that it was the 50th attack foiled by intelligence services since 2017. The teenager had already been scouting locations, according to a source close to the investigation.
Darmanin said the suspect was arrested at home.
France’s anti-terror prosecutor’s office, PNAT, said he was charged on Sunday with terrorist conspiracy with a view to preparing crimes against a person. He was subsequently remanded in custody. Investigations are now continuing as part of a judicial inquiry.
Among the matches due to be held at the stadium in Saint-Étienne are France against Canada and the United States versus Guinea. Morocco will also take on both Argentina and Ukraine in the city, with Canada playing New Zealand and Germany facing Zambia.
French authorities remain nervous about the security situation, especially since the outbreak of war in Gaza in October, and face persistent questions about the risk of an attack. The Olympics have been attacked before. In 1972 in Munich two members of the Israeli team were killed and nine taken hostage by a Palestinian militant organisation; and in 1996 in Atlanta a domestic terrorist pipe bombing killed one person and injured 111.