Afghan linked to US terrorist plot arrested in France

The suspect allegedly planned an ISIS-inspired attack on a sporting event or shopping center.

French authorities have arrested a 22-year-old Afghan national suspected of planning a terrorist attack in a public place, AFP reported on Saturday, citing the French anti-terrorism prosecution (PNAT). Officials believe the case is linked to a US election day plot uncovered earlier in the week.

French prosecutors claimed the suspect was a supporter of Islamic State (formerly IS or ISIS) ideology who planned to carry out “violent action” at a football stadium or shopping center in France.

The man was arrested on Tuesday morning in the Occitanie region in southwestern France, along with two other suspects, all three of Afghan origin. They were taken to Paris for questioning, but two of them have since been released.

The detainee, from a Tajik community in Afghanistan and living in France for around three years, is said to have discussed his project on Telegram. His name has not been released.

The PNAT claims to have found evidence suggesting that the detainee had been radicalized and had adhered to “the ideology of the Islamic State”. The man has been charged with terrorist conspiracy and is currently in pre-trial detention.

The agency told AFP that this man had “links” to the arrest last Monday of an Afghan migrant in the United States. The suspect in this case is Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, who has resided in the United States since 2021 and is awaiting judgment on his immigration proceedings.

According to US prosecutors, Tawhedi and unnamed co-conspirators, all allegedly supporters of the Islamic State, had taken steps to carry out a terrorist attack in the country on Election Day (November 5). Investigators found evidence that Tawhedi often watched Islamist propaganda and contributed about $540 in cryptocurrency to an anonymous charity in Syria that allegedly funneled money to the Islamic State. He was also allegedly in contact with a person on Telegram identified by the FBI as an Islamic State recruiter.

According to a source close to the French case, American authorities shared information with French authorities on the Tawhedi investigation, which led to arrests in Occitanie. No further details about the alleged French terrorist plot or the links between the U.S. and French cases have been made public.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced charges against Tawhedi on Tuesday, charging him with conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State and intending to commit an act of terrorism.

(RT.com)