Tag Archives: France

Leaked intelligence documents show that authorities reduced surveillance on Toulouse shooter Mohammed Merah after he was tagged a “privileged target” with links to extremists. Merah had many contacts to Islamist movements in the UK, made frequent trips to the Middle East, and was known to have made “more than 1,800 calls to over 180 contacts […]

President Hollande said while Islamic terrorists must not be allowed free rein in the African Sahel, it is up to Mali, ECOWAS, and the African Union to mount a military response to the threat. France would provide logistical support and training but not combat troops to the effort in Mali. He also said negotiations with […]

Five of the 12 people arrested in raids against an Islamist terror cell last weekend were released. The prosecution said the French cell recruited fighters for jihad in Syria and also targeted Jewish institutions in France.

Police found bomb-making materials in a Paris garage linked to recent raids against an Islamic extremist cell that netted 12 suspects and resulted in the death of another. The suspects, all French converts to Islam, will be detained for another 24 hours. The prosecutor called the cell “an extremely dangerous terror network.”

Interior Minister Valls warned that hundreds of Islamist militants may still be at large in France. Recent raids in Paris, Nice, Cannes, and Strasbourg resulted in the death of one militant, Jeremie Louis-Sidney; the arrest of 12 others; and the seizure of arms, cash, computer data, extremist literature, and a hit list of Jewish institutions.

Security forces conducted raids in Cannes, Nice, Paris, and Strasbourg to break up a network of Salafist Muslim extremists, arresting about 10 people. Jeremy Sydney, a suspect in Strasbourg, shot and wounded three policemen and was killed in return fire; his wife was arrested. The group had a list of “objectives” that may be linked […]

The parliament is considering legislation that will allow police to arrest and question suspects about terrorist activities outside the country; currently, police can act only on offenses committed in France. The government also plans to continue permitting police to monitor electronic and internet activity of potential terrorists.