PARIS, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Five men arrested last weekend for planned terror attacks were directed by an Islamic State commander in the Syria-Iraq region to carry out attacks here in and around the city on Dec. 1, prosecutor Francois Molins said on Friday.
"A Strasbourg commando team, and also a man arrested in Marseille, were given instructions to acquire arms. The instructions were given by a commander from the Iraqi-Syrian region via encrypted apps," Molins told reporters.
Four French men and one of Moroccan origin were arrested for planning an "imminent" and "mortifying" act on Dec. 1, the Paris prosecutor confirmed about earlier reports, adding available elements did not allow for the precise identification of the targeted sites.
Local media reported the team of would-be attackers were targeting police sites including the headquarters of the General Directorate for Internal Security, the police crime-investigation headquarters at the Quai des Orfevres, and the central Palace of Justice.
They also intended to strike the Disneyland Paris amusement park, Parisian shops in the Champs-Elysee avenue, in addition to a metro station and religious sites.
The five suspects went before an anti-terrorism judge on Friday to face preliminary charges in a thwarted attack in a country where a state of emergency has been in place since last year's deadly assaults in November which claimed the lives of 130 people.
"In spite of the effort we deploy, the zero risk cannot be guaranteed," French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said earlier this week.
France has become a major target of frequent terrorist attacks following its military operations in Syria, Iraq and the Sahel region.
