TWO MUSLIM TEENAGE GIRLS, age 14 and 15, arrested in Southern France on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack

The pair, aged 14 and 15, were taken in for questioning by the anti-terrorism prosecution service after a search of both girls’ homes turned up evidence suggesting they could have been planning an attack, a judicial source said.

AFP  Several girls have been among a swathe of teenagers arrested in recent anti-terror swoops in France on suspicion either of plotting attacks or having contact with Islamic State members or sympathisers.

“At this stage we do not know how far advanced the preparations were,” a source close to the inquiry told AFP, adding no weapons had been found. The country remains in a state of emergency after suffering a spate of deadly jihadist attacks over the past two years.

Three Muslim teenage girls were arrested in late February on suspicion they had chatted on Telegram, an encrypted instant messaging platform used by French jihadi Rachid Kassim (below) to call for attacks on France. An anti-terrorism judge in Paris charged the trio last month.

In February 2017, four Muslims suspected of plotting an “imminent” terrorist attack on a Paris tourist site were arrested, including a 16 year-old girl, Paris prosecutors said.

Investigators uncovered a makeshift bomb factory and made the arrests in the Montpellier area of southern France after monitoring the teenage girl’s social media accounts in which she talked about wanting to attack France and her desire to go to Syria or Iraq. Her boyfriend, 20, who was among those arrested, is suspected of planning to carry out a suicide attack on a Paris tourist attraction.