French authorities have thwarted three plots to attack the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris and other cities hosting the Summer Games, the state anti-terrorism prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Olivier Christen said the plot included plans to attack “Israeli institutions or the Israeli representative in Paris” during the Olympics, from July 26 to August 11. “The Israeli team itself was not specifically targeted,” the prosecutor told France Info broadcaster, without giving further details.
Five people, including minors, have been arrested in connection with three plots and attempts to target the Summer Olympics, which took place against the backdrop of the Israeli-Hamas war and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The suspects are in pretrial detention and face a variety of terrorism-related charges, prosecutors said.
France had been on the highest level of alert for months in the run-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which concluded last week. During the run-up to the Games, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin repeatedly warned that security threats included Islamic extremist groups, violent environmental activists, far-right groups and cyber attacks by Russia and other hostile countries.
In May, members of the General Directorate for Internal Affairs and Security arrested an 18-year-old man of Chechnya suspected of being behind a plot to attack an Olympic football match in the southern city of Saint-Étienne.
Prosecutors said the planned attack was to target “establishments such as bars around the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium,” and that the suspects were allegedly planning “acts of violence” in line with Islamic State’s jihadist ideology.
The prosecutor said most of the thwarted plots were due to jihadist threats and that 80 percent of legal proceedings against suspects involved extremist ideology that continues to influence young people in France. IS “continues to spread its propaganda,” he added.
The prosecutor said precautionary measures included raids and increased house arrest ahead of the start of the Olympics, and police and other security forces have carried out 936 raids so far in 2024, up from 153 last year, he added.
France also stepped up its air defenses during the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, deploying fighter jets, attack helicopters, reconnaissance planes and military and police drones to patrol the skies over Paris and the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, where sailing and football events will be held.
According to a statement released by the French Ministry of Defense on Wednesday, the French Air and Space Forces completed more than 750 flight hours in 350 missions and achieved 90 interceptions.
The statement said most of the drones intercepted were civilian drones and 85 drone operators were arrested, with most of the arrests being tourists who were unaware of the regulations that would come into force during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
It added that two civilian drone operators were arrested for “delivering illegal equipment to the prison.”
