French anti-terror prosecutors initiated an investigation on Sunday following the discovery of weapons in a parked car in a northern suburb of Paris, according to reports from AFP and Le Monde.
On Saturday evening, 300 individuals were evacuated from a neighborhood in Sarcelles in response to information regarding a suspicious vehicle that contained “a military-grade weapon,” as stated by the interior minister.
The investigation has been opened under the charge of forming a terrorist criminal organization aimed at preparing crimes involving attacks on individuals and the transport, possession, and acquisition of weapons related to a terrorist enterprise.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez mentioned during an interview with BFMTV that the vehicle was located near a synagogue in the area.
“We still do not know the motives,” Nunez remarked, adding that “the individuals have not yet been identified.”
A security cordon was established around the car on the previous evening, which was parked in a busy area, near a cinema and restaurants that were evacuated earlier that night.
Bomb disposal experts did not find any explosives; however, according to a police source, the stolen vehicle contained an assault rifle and a pistol.
Minister Nunez also noted that three attacks have been thwarted since the beginning of the year, including a knife attack on a gendarme under the Arc de Triomphe in February during the ceremony to rekindle the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
