Teenagers detained for plotting attacks against French military

One suspect, aged 17, wanted to ‘make France pay’ for fighting ISIS

A Eurocopter Tiger at the French Military base in Gao in November 2019. Thirteen soldiers were killed after two helicopters collided during an operation. AFP

France has more than 4,500 troops in Africa's Sahel region. AP Photo

The helicopter crash was the deadliest attack since the French intervention began in 2013. AFP

In total, 38 French soldiers have been killed in the region. AFP

A French soldier secure a perimeter during a break in the military convoy's trip between Gossi and Hombori in March. AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron visits soldiers of Operation Barkhane in Gao in 2017. He expressed his 'deep sadness' at the news. AP

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that terrorist groups have strengthened their foothold across the Sahel. Reuters

A French gunner sits in a Puma helicopter flying near Tessalit in 2013. AFP

French soldiers of France's Barkhane are pictured next to a Eurocopter Tiger helicopter during the 2017 visit of the French President in Gao. AFP

France's Barkhane mission in central Mali in 2017. AFP

France arrested two teenagers and charged them with planning attacks against the military as a senior official warned of the threat posed by young people being radicalised online.

One of the suspects, a 17-year-old boy who was detained in a north-west Paris suburb, allegedly said he wanted to “make France pay” for joining the military coalition against ISIS. He made the threats on Telegram, an encrypted messenger service often used by extremist groups to spread propaganda.

The other suspect, aged 18 and of French-Algerian origin, was detained in a raid on his home in Marseille, where terrorist propaganda was found.

He planned to travel to Iraq and Syria to fight for extremist groups, but turned his attention to plotting an attack on French soil.

The arrests were made as part of two separate investigations.

Marlene Schiappa, an official of France’s Interior Ministry, said security forces had prevented an average of 30 attacks a year since 2017, the year that President Emmanuel Macron came to power.

But she told France Info TV that the terrorist threat “is still very present” in the country.

Ms Schiappa said there was a new form of terrorism emerging that stemmed from young people who were not necessarily contacted directly by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, but who became radicalised by using their mobile phones and looking at social media content and deciding to carry out a terrorist act.

“It is this new form that we must fight,” she said.