France foils nine terrorist attacks in 2024

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has said that French intelligence services thwarted nine terrorist attacks that were planned to take place within the country, marking the highest number since 2017.

"Never before has the threat been so real. In 2024, our services prevented at least nine Islamist terrorist attacks in France, three of which were planned to occur during the Olympic Games. This is the highest number of thwarted attacks since 2017," Caliber.Az reports citing Retailleau’s interview with Le Parisien.

The minister expressed his intention to intensify the fight against radical Islamists. A major threat comes from individuals who are released from prison after serving sentences for terrorism-related offenses. In 2024, there were 84 such individuals, and over 60 are expected to be released in 2025.

He emphasised that he does not believe these individuals will renounce their radical beliefs and promised that they would be subject to individual surveillance. 

Retailleau said that a more global threat to France and its institutions comes from what is known as political Islam.

"I hope that one of the main priorities in the coming months will be the fight against the Islamism of the Muslim Brotherhood [an organization banned in Russia]," he said. "Their goal is not division, but the overthrow of our institutions, the undermining of national unity, and ultimately the establishment of Sharia law. This is a strategy of gradual conquest, aimed at infiltrating all layers of society: religious, cultural, sporting, social, and municipal." 

The minister suggested extending the secular approach, which currently applies to public service and school activities, to other aspects of public life. Specifically, this would include sports events and extracurricular school activities, such as children’s trips, where he intends to ban chaperones from wearing religious clothing like hijabs.

"The veil is not just a piece of cloth; it is a symbol of Islamism and a marker of the subjugation of women to men," he emphasised.

By Naila Huseynova