Teenage girls arrested in France on suspicion of plotting terror attack

Two French teenage girls have been arrested in the south of France accused of plotting terror attacks.

The pair, aged 14 and 15, were arrested after a search of their homes indicated they could have been planning an attack, judicial sources told AFP.

The source said that no weapons were found in the search, and it was not clear at what stage the plans were.

Local media reported that the girls were arrested in Nice and nearby Levens, with conflicting reports claiming they are 14 and 17 years old. In June, 2016, 86 people were killed when an Islamic extremist drove a truck into crowds of people watching a firework display on a Nice promenade.

The alleged plot is one of a series in France involving teenagers.

In February, three teenage girls aged 14-17 were arrested in locations across France accused of having been in contact with French Isis commander Rachid Kassim via the encrypted Telegram app. The group reportedly planned to commit bomb suicide attacks in Paris, and were indicted by a Paris anti-terrorism judge in early March.

Kassim is suspected of having been in contact with Islamic extremists who killed a police officer couple outside Paris in June, 2016, and the extremists responsible for murdering an elderly French priest in an attack in Normandy in July.