Paris foils ‘terror attack by man with bomb’ targeting Bank of America
A terror suspect has been detained after police caught him allegedly trying to detonate a bomb outside an American bank in Paris.
The male suspect reportedly tried to ignite a five-litre container filled with an unidentified liquid in the early hours of this morning.
Police later seized it along with a 650-gram explosive charge after officers were called to the Bank of America branch in the 8th Arrondissement at around 1.30am local time.
The bank is located in central Paris, a couple of streets from the French capital’s iconic Champs-Élysées.
The suspect was with another person at the time, according to French media.
They reportedly fled the scene and have yet to be traced.
Upon arrival, officers rapidly approached the man and detained him before he could detonate the bomb, according to reports.
During questioning, he claimed to have been recruited through social media site Snapchat, where he was offered £520 (€600) to detonate the device.
He also claimed to have been dropped off outside the bank in a car.
Reacting to the news, France’s interior minister Laurent Nuñez praised the ‘rapid intervention’ of the responding officers.
‘Well done to the rapid intervention of a police prefecture crew which made it possible to thwart a violent terrorist action last night in Paris,’ she said.
Ms Nuñez explained the investigation had since been taken over by the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office.
The alleged attack comes after several incidents across Europe amid heightened tensions over the ongoing turmoil in Iran and the wider Middle East.
Other incidents include an explosion outside a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège earlier this month.
It was followed days later by an arson attack on a synagogue in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.
Last week, four ambulances that belonged to a Jewish charity in Golders Green, North London, were destroyed by arsonists.
The Metropolitan Police have since arrested and bailed two men in connection with the attack, which the force is treating as an anti-Semitic hate crime.
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