A teenager planning a potential attack on a Lille shopping center, a Marseillais wanting to target
"Jewish targets"
or an
"LGBT nightclub"
, a sixty-year-old planning an attack on a church... For several months, the Islamist hydra has been multiplying the
"wolves solitary”
to carry out attempted attacks in France.
The “endogenous”
threat
, fomented from within, constituted until recently the main source of concern for the French authorities.
But this Monday evening, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin pointed to the
“resurgence” of the
“exogenous”
threat
– that coming from elsewhere, carried by over-armed radicals, crossing the borders of France.
The origins of this declaration were the carnage caused by a Daesh commando on Friday evening in Moscow.
A particular branch of the Islamist organization claimed responsibility for the attack, which left at least 139 dead: the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K).
Founded in 2015 and considered the
“most bloodthirsty” group in Afghanistan
, according to a note from the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), EI-K is also the branch of Daesh most
“oriented towards internationally
,” according to Lucas Webber, co-founder of the specialized site Militant Wire.
“This international vision includes an ambitious and aggressive campaign to strengthen its external operational capabilities and strike its various enemies abroad”,
in a context of rivalry with the Taliban.
At least two actions in France
Among its
“enemies”
, France.
According to our information, EI-K has already attempted to strike France in 2022, shortly before the Strasbourg Christmas market.
On November 18 of that same year, seven individuals suspected of preparing armed action were arrested in the town of Bas-Rhin by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI).
Two radicalized young men, aged 19 and 22 and from Russia and Tajikistan, were indicted and placed in pre-trial detention for
“terrorist criminal association”
.
They had been
“remotely guided by EI-K”
, confides a source close to intelligence.
According to preliminary information, they were planning a multiple-target attack, like November 13.
EI-K also probably distinguished itself during the stabbing attack on Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab on December 2.
Near the Bir Hakeim bridge, in Paris, the 27-year-old Franco-Russian jihadist attacker killed a tourist and injured two others with a knife and a hammer.
He claimed responsibility for his attack in a video pledging allegiance to ISIS, referring to the Daesh branch in Khorasan.
Sweden, Germany, Austria...
“Since 2020, EI-K has carried out 10 attack plans, including 5 in Germany, the others in Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and France
,” a well-informed source tells us.
According to terrorism expert Jean-Charles Brisard, president of the Terrorism Analysis Center contacted by
Le Figaro
, the latest European project dates from March 19.
On that day, two men of Afghan nationality were arrested in eastern Germany.
They planned to kill police officers and others in Stockholm, near the Swedish Parliament, using guns.
In Austria, three people suspected of
“intervening in an Islamist network”
were arrested last December, potentially preparing an attack on masses in the run-up to Christmas.
In July 2023, seven members of a terrorist group, in contact with members of EI-K, were arrested due to plans for
“high visibility”
actions in Germany, in the Rhineland-Palatinate region. North-Westphalia.
These people of Turkmen, Kyrgyz and Tajik origin had obtained weapons before their arrest.
Arriving in the country from Ukraine, they also collected funds to finance Islamist networks abroad.