Frenchman suspected of plotting attacks on Euro 2016 arrested in Ukraine
Kiev, June 7 (IANS) Police in Ukraine has arrested a French citizen suspected of planning terror attacks to coincide with the Euro 2016 European football championship.
The country’s state security service on Monday said: “The Frenchman spoke negatively about his government’s actions relating to the mass migration of foreigners and the spread of Islam.”
“He disclosed a plan to commit a series of terrorist attacks as a mark of protest,” a security service officer said.
According to him, the detained man was plotting 15 attacks in France targeting Muslim and Jewish houses of worship, bridges, highways, a tax collecting office and buildings of public institutions involved in the organisation of Euro 2016.
He was detained on May 21 during an attempt to cross the Ukrainian-Polish border, he said, without giving details on the name or the age of the suspect.
The head of the SBU said the suspect travelled to Ukraine with an aim to buy weapons from the armed groups, which are involved in the confrontation in eastern regions.
According to the preliminary investigation, the suspect had 125 kg of explosives, 5 Kalashnikov assault rifles, more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition and other weapons.
The Euro 2016 tournament will be organised in France from June 10 to July 10.
