“Several” suspected terrorists targeting the 2024 Paris Olympics have been arrested in France. An intelligence source said those detained are connected to the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP), an offshoot of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, responsible for the Crocus City Hall attack on Russian civilians in March 2024.
Another figure connected to the group was arrested in Germany last month after it emerged that he had applied to work as a steward, providing security at ‘side events’ during the UEFA European football championship. IS previously threatened major football venues hosting UEFA Champions League football games back in April.
French interior minister Gérald Darmanin has not revealed the nature of the plots relating to the Olympic games, which start later this month. But reports describe those arrested as suspected “suicide bombers.”
As more reports come in concerning IS terror plots aimed at high-attendance sporting events, writer Yasmine Mohammed said this latest “breaking news … will surprise absolutely no one.”
Laurent Nuñez, Paris police chief and head of the National Center of Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism, has described Islamic terrorism as the “main concern” ahead of the Olympics. He added that
The terrorist threat remains just as important as the protest threat posed by radical environmental groups, the ultra left and the pro-Palestinian movement.
A report released in June by the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future did, however, note that “extensive security infrastructure in place for the event will make a successful mass-casualty attack very unlikely.”
