On Friday, French anti-terror police thwarted an apparent terror attack by raiding a Montpelier home and taking three men and a 16-year-old girl into custody in the process. Authorities revealed that the home contained “a bomb-making factory,” which was being used to fashion explosive devices. Police have not locked down an exact timeline of when the attack was to occur but believe it was “imminent.”
During the raid, officers discovered 2.5 ounces of TATP explosives in one of the suspects’ homes. NBC News notes that this was the same explosive used in the Paris and Brussels attacks.
Along with TATP, authorities also found 35 fluid ounces of acetone, oxygenized water, and sulfuric acid, each. Authorities in France had been investigating the group for about two weeks before the raid. NBC News reported three men (aged 20, 26 and 33) and a 16-year-old girl had been arrested in connection to the possible attack. The 20-year-old man and the girl are said to have connections to Islamic extremists.
Authorities aren’t sure whether the suspects were planning to attack Paris. However, the city has been on high alert for potential terror sources since the November 2015 attacks. Only one week ago, a machete-wielding man was arrested when he attacked police outside the Lourve museum.
(Via NBC News & News.com.au)