A church attack in French capital was averted as the suspected terrorist misfired and shot himself in leg and also called an ambulance, reports said Thursday.
Meanwhile French PM Manuel Valls said that the police had thwarted five terror attack in recent months.
Speaking to French radio, he said, “The threat has never been so high.We have never had to face this kind of terrorism in our history.”
Sid Ahmed Ghlam, a 24-year-old Algerian national who plotted to attack on “one or two churches” in France was yesterday arrested by French police.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that the suspect had been flagged as a risk for intent to travel to Syria but there had been no specific reason to open a judicial investigation, said a news report.
The 24-year-old science student was also suspected to be involved in the death of a young woman.
Paris Prosecutor François Molins said lots of weapon and terrorist materials related to al Qaeda and Islamic State were found at his apartment.
A search of his apartment in southeastern Paris turned up three Kalashnikov assault rifles along with phones and computers that police used to establish that he’d been in communication with someone “who could have been in Syria,” said Mollins.
Police also found Arabic-language material that mentioned al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the man’s apartment, Mr. Molins said. There was no immediate evidence that the suspect had direct ties to any organised groups, said a French security official who was not authorised to publicly release details.
Police arrested one person believed to be acquainted with the suspect on Wednesday evening in the town of Saint-Dizier, Mr. Molins said, but gave no further details.
