REPORTING. Terrorism: who are the two Afghans and the man suspected of preparing “violent actions” arrested in Fronton and Toulouse?

“No comment…” In the vast store located at the entrance to Fronton, opposite the Mc Do, the waitresses of “La mie de pain” smile but remain silent. “We were told not to say anything,” apologizes a young woman. Instructions from investigators. This Tuesday morning shortly before 7 a.m., barely getting off his scooter, a young man was unable to reach his workstation.

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Terrorism: three people, including two Afghans, arrested in Toulouse and Fronton for a “violent action plan”

He was taken on board manu militari by investigators from the DGSI, the general directorate of internal security. Anti-terrorism professionals came from Levallois-Perret to arrest three men, aged 20 to 30 in Fronton and Toulouse.

Surprise in Fronton

In the north of Haute-Garonne, in the middle of the vineyard, the mayor, Hugo Cavagnac, is one of the people surprised by this arrest, like many of his constituents. “If what you tell me is true and I realize that the man who made, or sold, the chocolatines is in reality a potential terrorist, that’s weird!” confides a regular at this all-pink point of sale.

The mayor prefers to congratulate himself on the vigilance of the anti-terrorism services. “France still remains in a state of Vigipirate emergency attack alert, the highest level of alert since the Olympic Games. This demonstrates real risks. And I appreciate the work of the specialized services, which are often very discreet but which we know that they thwart many attacks”, underlines the elected official.

In addition to the arrest in front of Fronton’s business, another individual was arrested in the street, route d’Albi in Toulouse. Searches were then carried out in the accommodations occupied by these suspects. Their computer equipment was notably seized to enable its exploitation. A job that will take time.

Did the members of this trio, including two Afghans who are believed to be brothers, want to take violent action? The national anti-terrorism prosecution suspects him. This is what would have accelerated the operation following information recovered by the services.

Suspicions of terrorist attack

At the anti-terrorism prosecution, specialist magistrates confirmed this Tuesday morning the arrests “as part of a preliminary investigation opened by the PNAT into participation in a criminal association with a view to preparing one or more crimes of attacks on persons referred to in 1° of article 421-1 of the Penal Code”. Either a terrorist act, in this case a project, on which the specialized prosecution made no comment.

The arrested individuals were brought back to the central police station in Toulouse following the searches for their first hearings. A quick passage, a first contact, which should continue at Levallois-Perret, at the Paris headquarters of the DGSI, at the end of their transfer which could take place quickly.

If the dangerousness of this trio is confirmed by current investigations, it will bring back bad memories. Without going back to the attacks of 2012, the Chechen, political refugee, author of the assassination of Samuel Patty in October 2020 had also lived in Toulouse.