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UPDATE: Two women freed after being held hostage in Paris shop

A police operation overnight on Monday successfully freed the two hostages held by a man armed with a knife in Paris' 12th arrondissement. 

Published: 20 December 2021 17:16 CET
Updated: 21 December 2021 08:55 CET
A French soldier stands on guard near a hardware store where two women were taken hostage on Monday
A French soldier stands on guard near a hardware store where two women were taken hostage on Monday. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)

They were being held in a shop in the Aligre district since late Monday afternoon. The first hostage was released unharmed that evening and the second was released this morning. 

The hostage taker has been arrested. French media reported the man has a history of psychiatric illness. 

La BRI, the Brigade of Search and Intervention the French equivalent of a SWAT team, was among the units mobilised to resolve the current hostage situation safely. 

During the negotiations, the hostage taker had asked to have a discussion with the French Justice Minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti. It is unclear whether such a discussion took place. 

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CRIME

Teens charged in France over plot to attack Jewish targets: judicial source

French prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old man and a youth in the Paris region with planning a "terrorist" attack on Jewish targets, a judicial source told AFP on Friday.

Published: 22 June 2024 12:47 CEST
Teens charged in France over plot to attack Jewish targets: judicial source

While no details on the pair have been released, French anti-terrorist investigators have expressed increased concern over the young age of some suspects detained in recent months for planning militant attacks.

The 19-year-old has been charged with “terrorist conspiracy” to commit attacks and the “acquisition and possession of arms for a terrorist enterprise,” said the judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

READ ALSO: Anti-Semitism fears stalk Jewish voters’ choice in France

The youth aged under 18 was detained on June 13, the source said.

The pair made contact on social media and were planning a “a violent action notably aiming at Jewish targets,” said the source without giving details on the plot.

Anti-terrorism investigators say a growing number of youths have been held in recent months for preparing attacks.

READ ALSO: French election breakdown: TV debates, polling latest and anti-Semitism

“This is a necessarily worrying phenomenon,” senior anti-terrorist prosecutor Olivier Christen said at an evidentiary hearing on Wednesday.

French politicians have also condemned a growing number of attacks on the country’s Jewish community, the biggest outside Israel and the United States.

Outrage has been expressed over the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a park in the Paris suburbs last Saturday. Two 13-year-old boys have been charged with rape and making anti-Semitic insults.

Several protest rallies have been held in Paris and other French cities over the case which comes as France prepares for a national election in which the far-right National Rally party is tipped to make major gains. 

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