‘An 18-year-old Chechen citizen was arrested in Saint-Etienne (Loire), the Interior Ministry said in a statement published on Friday.’

Gérald Darmanin announced on Friday 31 May that this was ‘the first foiled attack on the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games’. An ‘Islamist-inspired’ attack targeting the football events at the Paris Olympics has been foiled in Saint-Etienne (Loire) by the intelligence services, according to the Ministry of the Interior. An 18-year-old Chechen national, suspected of planning to carry out the attack, was arrested on Wednesday 22 May in the city, where the football events will take place.

According to the initial findings of the investigation, the suspect intended to attack spectators and the police, before dying as a martyr inside the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, the Ministry of the Interior said in its press release.