French authorities have charged an 18-year-old man on suspicion of planning an imminent terror attack with a knife in the name of ISIS extremists, a judicial source said on Wednesday.
Initial investigations indicated that he planned to carry out a terror attack “in the name of ISIS, to which he had pledged allegiance,” said the source, who asked not to be named.
The source added that the man had been detained in the Drome region of southeast France and charged in Paris.
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The man, from a Muslim family, had adopted extremist views and was considered a threat, sparking France’s anti-terror prosecutors office (PNAT) to open an investigation on May 19, a source close to the case said.
Police arrested him on Friday and a video of him swearing allegiance to ISIS was found in his possession.
The source did not say whom he was planning to target in the attack or in which location.
France saw a wave of extremist attacks from 2015 that left hundreds dead and pushed the country to its highest level of security alert.
There has been no repeat of a mass atrocity in the last years, but there have been several deadly attacks carried out by lone individuals.
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