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Two Teenage Girls Caught In France After Plotting Terror Attack

REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol.

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Jonah Bennett Contributor
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Authorities are holding two teenage girls in France suspected of plotting to carry out a devastating terror attack.

The two girls, aged 17 and 19, are from Nice, the same city where the terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed 86 people in July with a truck. Bouhlel was from Tunisia.

Although law enforcement did not immediately find any weapons in the girls’ respective homes, they did discover the two were under the influence of Syrian jihadist Rachid Kassim, who was directing their actions and giving them terror guidance, The Local reports.

“They admitted they had been planning a violent attack under the influence of Rachid Kassim before abandoning their plans,” an investigation source told The Local

Of the two teenage girls, only one was known to police. The 17-year-old, a Muslim convert, had not been on any law enforcement radars prior to this incident. She was charged in September for associating with terrorists.

The 19-year-old girl, however, was somewhat of a different case. Police knew she had been in contact with Omar Diaby, a French citizen recruiter for the Islamic State.

In this case, Diaby wasn’t involved, but rather, Rachid Kassim. The French speaker has grown in importance as a handler. Police have found that Kassim has been in contact with multiple people over the messaging app Telegram, people who have plotted attacks or successfully carried them out. Kassim is believed to be linked with the attack that led to the slitting of an elderly priest’s throat in Normandy.

Kassim has made numerous videos calling for terror attacks against France.

Kassim wanted the girls to avenge the death of Abu Mohammed al Adnani, who was the head spokesman for ISIS. Adnani was killed last month.

The number of terror attacks in France are starting to take a toll. From 2015 to the present, more than 200 people have been killed by such attacks. Tourism in France suffers greatly as a result of these attacks.

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