Three Islamist extremists have been arrested for allegedly plotting a terrorist attack targeting a city hall linked to a famous battle between a Christian army and Muslim invaders. The trio were arrested in Nîmes and Nantes, in France, after starting the process of creating explosives.
Aged between 19 and 20, the Islamists are said to have been university students on their way to creating the explosive acetone peroxide (TATP) before French authorities arrested them on December 7. Among their proposed targets was the city hall of Poitiers, which the Islamists selected due to its links to the Battle of Tours in 732 A.D. This clash saw Christians led by Charles Martel defeat a Muslim invasion force that had struck central France, preventing Islam from sweeping deep into Western Europe.
The National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) confirmed the men had been investigated by the DGSI, France’s internal spy agency. The men had used encrypted messaging apps to communicate. The men also conducted preliminary tests on the explosives after ordering equipment to make them.
Two of the men are said to have been born in France and come from North African backgrounds, while the third is from the French overseas territory of Mayotte, an island between the African mainland and Madagascar.
The potential attack is just the latest to be foiled this year in Western Europe, which has also seen several executed attacks. For instance, a mass stabbing at a Festival of Diversity in Solingen, Germany, by a Syrian migrant left three people dead.
In the United Kingdom, a similar mass stabbing attack in Southport saw three young girls murdered and sparked riots across the country. Months later, British authorities also revealed the attacker, born in Wales to Rwandan migrants, had al-Qaeda terror manuals in his possession.
