French Police Foil Bomb Plot at Paris Bank of America

French police arrested a man early Saturday morning after he attempted to ignite an improvised explosive device outside the Bank of America offices in Paris's upscale 8th arrondissement, authorities said, thwarting what officials described as a potential terrorist attack.

The incident occurred around 3:25 a.m. local time on Rue de la Boétie, a street near the Champs-Élysées lined with luxury shops and offices. Officers from the Paris police's anti-crime brigade spotted the suspect as he tried to light the device with a lighter, according to sources close to the investigation. The man, identified as a 17-year-old of Senegalese nationality born in 2009 and living in a Paris suburb, was immediately taken into custody. A second person believed to be acting as a lookout fled on foot and remains at large.

The device consisted of a five-liter transparent container filled with an unidentified flammable liquid, possibly a hydrocarbon such as gasoline, attached to an explosive charge containing about 650 grams of powder in a mortar-style tube. Police secured the apparatus before it could detonate, preventing any injuries or damage to the building or surrounding area. The item was...