France says it foiled attack targeting Olympic Games at St Etienne

PARIS :French security forces arrested earlier this month in Saint-Etienne an 18-year old Chechen suspected of planning an attack at the city's soccer stadium during this summer's Olympic Games, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

The PNAT anti-terrorism prosecutor told Reuters the suspect was put under formal investigation on May 26, in connection with the planned attack.

He was also accused of planning the attack under the banner of Islamic State and of associating with terrorists. He is being detained while the investigations continue. French authorities did not name the 18-year old suspect.

France is on its highest state of security alert, with less than two months to go before the Olympic Games,

"The first elements show he was actively planning an attack against the Geoffroy Guichard stadium during the soccer matches that will take place there during the Olympic Games," Darmanin said in a statement.

The suspect was "inspired by the Islamist" ideology, he said.

"He wanted to attack spectators, but also security forces and die as a martyr," Darmanin also said, adding that the foiled attack was the first one this summer to target the Olympics.

In 2020, Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old history and geography teacher, was stabbed and then beheaded near his secondary school in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.

Paty's attacker was an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, who was subsequently shot dead by police at the scene.