Rabat – France has opened an investigation into the alleged involvement of five women in plots seeking to undermine the country’s security.
Le Point reported that French security services arrested five “radicalized” women, during the night from Saturday to Sunday in the district of Devez in Beziers, in the Occitanie region of southern France.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the five suspects were planning to commit an “imminent violent action in Montpellier.”
Police seized material that could be used in the manufacturing of explosives.
None of the five suspects are known to the police but sources claimed the women were radicalized while some of them have watched ISIS videos.
Police seized no weapons during the arrest.
France is tackling the case as a “terrorist criminal association.”
Le Point recalled that this is not the first time France intelligence services have put focus on radicalized women.
The news outlet reported an increase of female involvement in such actions in recent years.
The increase comes as many ISIS sympathizers fail to join conflict zones in Iraq and Syria
Le Point said tightened security measures led potential ISIS “fighters” and sympathizers to concentrate their focus on France.
France faced several terror attacks in recent years. Having lost its “caliphate” in Syria, many observers have maintained, ISIS is now instructing followers on social media to strike where they can.
In 2020, three people died in a knife attack at a church in Nice.
Emmanuel Macron described the incident as an “Islamist terrorist attack.”
But the statement received backlash from Muslims, with many arguing that terrorism has no relgion.
Tensions escalated in France after Macron described Islam as a “religion in crisis” across the world.
In response to his claims, Muslims across the world launched a campaign to boycott French products.
