Suspects arrested last weekend in France under anti-terrorism measures had been planning to launch attacks on December 1st at important and landmark sites in and around Paris, according to a source close to the inquiry.
Police sources said that among the targets were France’s counter-intelligence services hub in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, the grandiose police crime-investigation headquarters at the Quai des Orfevres, and the riverside high court building nearby.
Also targeted by the would-be attackers were the Disneyland Paris theme park 32 kilometres (20 miles) east of the city and the Champs Elysees shopping strip.
The targets of the five men being held and the date of the planned assault were establised thanks to information found on a smartphone, the police sources said.
French authorities, citing the risk of an imminent threat, have said they are keeping five men in custody without charge amid the investigation .
The suspects were believed to have taken orders from Syria, and used a mobile phone and computers to search for locations that officials said might have been potential attack sites.
Security was tightened at the headquarters of France’s criminal investigations police, reportedly among the locations studied.
The five were arrested on Sunday in Strasbourg and Marseille, and should have been charged or released early Thursday. Authorities used an exceptional recent anti-terrorism measure to extend their custody up to two more days, according to a judicial official.
The official said the exceptional move was based on the threat of an imminent terrorist act and the need for further information from international partners.
A security official said investigators have determined that the suspects used the phone and computers to search locations, including an amusement park — but said it was too early to tell whether these were attack targets.
More than 230 people have died in Islamist militant attacks around France since the beginning of 2015. The most deadly of these took place just over a year ago in the capital, a co-ordinated series of assaults by gunmen and suicide bombers on the Bataclan music hall, cafes and bars, and on the Stade de France sports stadium on the edge of the city.
Reuters/AP