Five people were detained on Friday in the French department of Meurthe and Moselle, they are suspected of preparing a terrorist attack, reports BFMTV. France’s counter-intelligence agency, the Directorate General of Internal Security, was involved in the anti-terrorist operation, it said.
All five suspects have been taken into custody, the channel notes with reference to the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office.
Also on Friday, regional newspaper L’Est Republicain reported that the investigation is linked to suspicions that the attackers were preparing “one or more offences against human health or life”.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin called on the same day for prefects to “maintain extreme vigilance” on the occasion of the Christian holidays of Christmas and Epiphany.
The minister made the call at a time when France is at its highest terrorist threat level, declared on 13 October following the death of Arras lycée teacher Dominique Bernard at the hands of a radicalised former pupil from Ingushetia.
In addition, the activation of the highest threat level, BFMTV noted, took place against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas following a terrorist attack by the radical Palestinian group on 7 October.
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