PARIS: French police have arrested a 22-year-old Afghan linked to a countryman in the US suspected of planning an election day attack there, anti-terrorism prosecutors said on Saturday.

The man, who was arrested on Tuesday in southwestern France, is suspected of being a supporter of militant Islamic State, said a statement from prosecutors.

He was linked to a 27-year-old Afghan arrested on Wednesday in Oklahoma in the United States and charged with plotting a November election-day attack on a football stadium or a shopping centre.

One source close to the case said the two men were brothers, but prosecutors have not confirmed this.

The US-based suspect had been in contact via the Telegram app with a person identified by the FBI as an Islamic State recruiter, say US officials.

They alerted their French colleagues, leading to the arrest of three people aged 20 to 31 in southwestern France, a judicial source close to the French case said.

While the main suspect remains in detention, the other two have been released, prosecutors said.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2024