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France arrests 10 ultra-right suspects over plot to attack Muslims

Ten people with links to the radical far-right have been arrested by anti-terrorist police in France over an alleged plot to attack Muslims, judical sources said Sunday.

Published: 25 June 2018 08:47 CEST

France arrests 10 ultra-right suspects over plot to attack Muslims

Illustration photo: RAID police unit officers/AFP

The arrests were made late Saturday in operations across France, including the Mediterranean island of Corsica, the sources told AFP.

The suspects had an “ill-defined plan to commit a violent act targeting people of the Muslim faith,” one source close to the probe said.

Another source said the gang was looking to hit “targets linked to radical Islam”.

France has been hit by a string of jihadist attacks since early 2015, often by people who have become radicalised or claim to have acted in the name of the Islamic State group.

More than 240 people have been killed in the attacks, including 130 who lost their lives in a wave of bombings and shootings mainly in Paris nightspots in November 2015.

The suspects were being monitored by France's DGSI intelligence agency, intercepted messages showing they were seeking to buy arms, and searches turned up some weapons, the sources said.

France is home to an estimated 5.7 million Muslims or almost nine percent of the population, according to a report by US-based think-tank the Pew Research Centre at the end of last year.

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France 'charges 10 ultra-right suspects over plot to attack Muslims'

File photo: RAID police officers

The nine men and one woman aged 32 to 69 were arrested in raids across France on Saturday.

The suspects, whose detention was extended late Monday for a further 48 hours, had an “ill-defined plan to commit a violent act targeting people of the Muslim faith,” one source close to the probe said previously.

They appeared before a judge on Wednesday evening and were charged with “criminal terrorist conspiracy”, the source said.

Several were also charged with violations of firearms laws and the manufacture or possession of explosive devices.

Police have linked the ten to a little-known group called Action des Forces Operationnelles (Operational Forces Action), which urges French people to

combat Muslims, or what it calls “the enemy within”.

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Police outside the home of Guy S., the alleged leader of a group linked with the ultra right 'AFO' . Photo: AFP

Rifles, handguns and homemade grenades were found during searches in the Paris area, the Mediterranean island of Corsica and the western Charentes-Maritimes region.

Prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday that 36 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition were seized, as well as items in one suspect's home that

could be used in the manufacture of TATP explosives.

The suspects include a retired police officer, identified only as Guy S., who was the alleged leader of the group, according to a source close to the investigation. The group also includes a former soldier.

France remains on high alert following a wave of jihadist attacks which have killed more than 240 people since 2015.

Officials have urged people not to confuse the actions of radicalised individuals with those of France's estimated six million Muslims — but anti-Islamic violence is on the rise.

The “Guerre de France” (War for France) website of the shadowy Operational Forces Action depicts an apocalyptic battle scene under the Eiffel Tower, and claims to prepare “French citizen-soldiers for combat on national territory” (see image below).

France's TF1 television has said the group planned to target radicalised imams and Islamist prisoners after their release from jail, as well as veiled women in the street chosen at random.

France registered 72 violent anti-Muslim acts last year, up from 67 in 2016.

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