THE seizure of a weapons cache during the search of a home last week outside Paris thwarted what authorities believe was an“imminent terrorist action,” prosecutor Francois Molins said late Wednesday.
Police found five assault rifles and eight handguns, as well as 1.3 kg of industrial explosive, 105 grams of other explosives, components for possible bomb fuse devices and additional “chemical elements” during the March 24 raid. There were five stolen passports and seven mobile telephones in the premises in Argenteuil near Paris,
Molins said.
He said that the size of the arsenal suggest to authorities that a major attack was being planned by a terrorist network, though investigators have yet to identify a clear target of any plot.
A French national arrested in the raid, identified as Reda K, faces a charge of participation in a terrorist organization. Molins said the suspect had denied to a judge that he is a terrorist.
Reda K is also said to have travelled to Syria in 2014-15 with another suspect, who was arrested Sunday in the Netherlands. – DPA/ANA/edited by Patience Rusere
