A terrorist attack, planned by a 19-year-old man, was thwarted in northern France at the beginning of the week. He claimed to be acting in the name of the Islamic State. In recent months, no fewer than six attacks have been foiled. According to the minister of the Interior, the real threat today is no longer an external attack but an internal enemy—actions carried out by a group of radicalized French youth.

Morad M. was arrested by police on the morning of Wednesday, 2 April, at a social centre in Dunkirk following a tip-off. The unemployed man, a French citizen, was already known to the police for drug dealing. Investigators found a declaration of allegiance to the Islamic State in his home. He confessed that

he had planned to carry out an attack in Dunkirk wearing a suicide vest. His targets were to be café terraces and places frequented by the Jewish community, intending to “do as they did at the Bataclan.” He said “the state of France” was his motive for committing an attack.

The managers of the centre where he had lived for three years had noticed his gradual radicalization. Two other acquaintances of his were also arrested along with him; one of them was imprisoned for “conspiracy with terrorists,” according to The European Conservative news outlet.

Following the incident, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed concern to the media about the current level of terrorist threats facing France.

Eighty per cent of the investigations conducted by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office are related to jihadist attacks.

The threat is twofold:

• there is always an external threat, particularly from the Islamic State;
• however, the most realistic and pressing danger is the internal threat, which increasingly involves young people.

What is particularly alarming is the extremely young age of these aspiring terrorists. In 70 per cent of the thwarted cases, the suspected perpetrators were under the age of 21.

Their age is a clear indication that the national education system is failing to prevent the radicalization of teenagers. Often coming from broken families and having no prospects for the future, these young people are radicalized online, influenced by AI-generated content disseminated by agents of the Islamic State. Just a month ago, a 17-year-old minor was arrested and imprisoned in the Vesoul region of eastern France for wanting to execute a similar plot. He reportedly planned to attack a church, synagogue, or an American or Israeli embassy or consulate with a knife. He also confessed to being a member of the Islamic State.

Since the 2012 Toulouse attacks, French intelligence services have prevented 86 attempted attacks.