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France Arrests 15-Year-Old Boy Over 'Imminent Paris Attack

The boy allegedly had ties to those who carried out a recent attack in Paris.
Gerard Bon and Sophie Louet
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Regis Duvignau / Reuters

PARIS, Sept 11 (Reuters) - A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in Paris suspected of preparing imminent “violent action,” two judicial sources said, the second alleged plot with links to Islamic State discovered in France this week.

Last Sunday, a car loaded with gas cylinders was found near Notre Dame cathedral and jerry cans of diesel, leading to the discovery of a plot to attack a Paris railway station under the direction of Islamic State. Seven people, including four women, were arrested.

The boy had been under house arrest since France declared a state emergency after Nov. 13 attacks in Paris in which Islamic State militants killed 130 people, two sources said on condition of anonymity. They did not say why he was under house arrest.

His arrest on Saturday came as he was planning an attack in a public place in the French capital, one of the sources said.

The second source said the boy had been in contact with suspected French Islamist militant Rashid Kassim and that Kassim also guided one of the women arrested last week in the plot to attack a train station in Paris.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that Kassim is in Syria. He has used Telegram, the messaging service, to call for more attacks in France.

“Women, sisters, go on, attack. Where are the brothers?...She brandished a knife and she hit a policeman...Where are the men?” Le Monde quoted a message of Kassim on Telegram.

One of the women, arrested on Thursday stabbed a police officer during her arrest on Thursday.

One of the women, who was arrested with her partner on a motorway on Tuesday , Ornella G., was formally placed under investigation on Saturday in connection with the car found last Sunday near Notre Dame cathedral.

The man was freed on Saturday.

One of the sources said Kassim, 29, inspired two men who carried out an attack in July in a French church during which they slit the throat of the elderly priest.

The attack shocked France, coming less than 12 days after another Islamic State militant drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice.

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Before You Go

Paris Starts Clearing Major Makeshift Memorial To Victims Of Terrorist Attacks
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People walk by city employees as they clean graffiti off the statue of Place de la Republique in Paris, on August 2, 2016. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON via Getty Images)
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A city employee cleans graffiti off the statue of Place de la Republique in Paris, on August 2, 2016. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON via Getty Images)
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Two city employees clean graffiti off the statue of Place de la Republique in Paris, on August 2, 2016. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON via Getty Images)
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A city employee cleans graffiti of the statue of Place de la Republique in Paris, on August 2, 2016. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
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A city employee cleans graffiti off the statue of Place de la Republique in Paris, on August 2, 2016. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
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A city employee cleans graffiti off the statue of Place de la Republique in Paris, on August 2, 2016. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
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City employees clean graffiti off the statue of Place de la Republique in Paris, on August 2, 2016. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
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A sign reading 'Love' is pictured next to a French flag and teddy bears at a makeshift memorial for the victims of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, on November 30, 2015 at the Place de la Republique in Paris. (credit:JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)
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People gather in front of a makeshift memorial in Place de la Republique square in Paris on December 13, 2015. (credit:JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)
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A picture taken on November 27, 2015, shows French national flags, candles and flowers at a makeshift memorial in Place de la Republique square in Paris. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
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This photo taken on November 26, 2015 shows a makeshift memorial at Place de la Republique in Paris. (credit:BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images)
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A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Republique in Paris on November 23, 2015. (credit:ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)
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People stand in front of a makeshift memorial for the victims of the November 13 terrorist attacks, on November 30, 2015 at the Place de la Republique in Paris. (credit:JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)
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An elderly man stands in front of a makeshift memorial on Place de la Republique Paris, France, on December 11, 2015. (credit:NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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People gather in front of a makeshift memorial at the Place de la Republique in Paris on December 13, 2015, a month after the November 13 Paris terror attacks that claimed 130 lives. (credit:THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images)
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