According to American daily newspaper New York Times on the basis of the revelation of French prosecutor Mr. Molins, five men who were arrested on Sunday in France were Islamic State operatives planning an “imminent” attack under the direction of a commander based in the terrorist group’s haven in Iraq and Syria.
Mr. Molins identified the suspects arrested in Strasbourg as Yassine B., 37, a school employee; Hicham M., 37, a warehouse worker; Sami B., 36, a French-Tunisian father of three who worked in a grocery store; and Zacaria M., 35, a French-Moroccan whose employment status was not disclosed, referring to New York Times.
The four men were longtime friends who saw “each other on a regular basis” and communicated via a dedicated telephone line, According to Mr. Molins.
As regards the fifth suspect arrested in Marseille, Molins explained that he was identified as Hicham E., a 26-year-old Moroccan citizen who left his country in 2013 to emigrate to Portugal, from where he took multiple trips back and forth within Europe using fake identification papers. (The prosecutor earlier gave his age as 46.).
Molins noted tha Hicham M. and Yassine B. went to the Turkey-Syria border in March 2015 via Cyprus, while Hicham E. was turned back in the summer of 2015 when he attempted to enter Turkey.
New York Times
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