French Arrest Tunisian in Louvre Terror Plot Case

French authorities have arrested a 27-year-old Tunisian national in the Paris region on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack targeting the Louvre Museum and members of the Jewish community, according to the French Interior Ministry and the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutors' Office.

The suspect, identified as Dhafer M. and born in Djerba, Tunisia, in 1999, was detained on May 7 after an initial traffic stop on April 28 in central Paris. Officers pulled him over for driving with a forged license. A subsequent examination of his phone revealed jihadist propaganda videos, hundreds of images of firearms and knives, ISIS-related imagery, and encrypted communications with overseas contacts believed linked to extremist networks. Investigators found discussions about access routes to the Louvre, potential explosive placements inside the museum, and the production of ricin toxin. The phone also contained a video of the museum's front entrance and searches on ChatGPT for bomb-making instructions, explosive chemicals, and the effects of TNT.

Prosecutors opened a judicial investigation on May 6 for "terrorist association with the goal of committing crimes against individuals." The man,...