4 Charged with Plotting Attacks on French Vaccination Centers

A French anti-terrorism judge has charged four men with suspected links to a far-right conspiracy theorist over a plot to attack targets including Covid-19 vaccination centers.
A French anti-terrorism judge has charged four men with suspected links to a far-right conspiracy theorist over a plot to attack targets including Covid-19 vaccination centers.
TT

4 Charged with Plotting Attacks on French Vaccination Centers

A French anti-terrorism judge has charged four men with suspected links to a far-right conspiracy theorist over a plot to attack targets including Covid-19 vaccination centers.
A French anti-terrorism judge has charged four men with suspected links to a far-right conspiracy theorist over a plot to attack targets including Covid-19 vaccination centers.

A French anti-terrorism judge has charged four men with suspected links to a far-right conspiracy theorist over a plot to attack targets including Covid-19 vaccination centers.

Two of the men are also accused of being involved in the kidnapping of an eight-year-old girl in April.

Remy Daillet, a leading figure in conspiracy circles, was arrested in June over the kidnapping as he returned to France on a flight from Singapore.

The four men, who include two former soldiers, were charged on Friday and are suspected of links to Daillet.

An anti-terrorism judge ordered the arrests as part of an investigation into the Honneur et nation group.

Three people were charged in May and five others last month as part of the operation.

The group are suspected of plotting a series of attacks, including against vaccination centers, a Masonic lodge, prominent people and journalists, sources say.

The team had "a multitude of violent actions planned, targeting institutional sites, vaccination centers, 5G antennas", one source said.

The four men, aged between 43 and 69, were held for questioning on Tuesday.

The kidnapped girl was taken from the home of her grandmother, her legal guardian, in eastern France.

The girl was found a few days later in a squat in Switzerland in the care of her mother, who had lost custody of her. She was returned to her grandmother.

Investigators believe the abduction may have been organized by extremists led by Daillet who believe children in care are unfairly taken from their parents.



Supporters of Pakistan's Imran Khan Call off Protest

Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
TT

Supporters of Pakistan's Imran Khan Call off Protest

Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
Policemen fire tear gas shells to disperse supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a protest to demand the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad on November 26, 2024. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party suspended street protests demanding his release from jail after a sweeping midnight raid by security forces in the capital Islamabad in which hundreds of people were arrested, local media reported on Wednesday.
Broadcaster Geo News, citing a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) statement, said the party had announced a "temporary suspension" of the protest, in which at least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters, have been killed.
A PTI spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thousands of protesters had gathered in the center of Islamabad on Tuesday after a convoy, led by Khan's wife Bushra Bibi, broke through several lines of security all the way to the edge of the city's highly fortified red zone.
Geo News and broadcaster ARY both reported that a massive raid was launched by security forces in a pitch-dark central Islamabad, where lights had been turned off and a barrage of teargas was fired. The protest gathering was almost completely dispersed, they reported.
On Wednesday morning, city workers were cleaning up debris and clearing some of the shipping containers that had blocked roads around the capital. The heavily fortified red zone was empty of protesters but several of their vehicles were left behind, including the remains of a truck from which Bushra Bibi had been leading the protests that appeared charred by flames, according to Reuters witnesses.
PTI had planned on staging a sit-in in the red zone until the release of Khan, who has been in jail since August last year.
PTI's president for the city of Peshawar in the party's northern stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the party had called off the protest.
"We will chalk out the new strategy later after proper consultation,” Mohammad Asim told Reuters.
He said that Bushra Bibi as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a key Khan ally, had returned "safely" to the province from the capital.
Pakistan's benchmark share index jumped more than 4% in intraday trade on Wednesday, recovering losses made on Tuesday when the index closed 3.6% down over the news of political clashes.
"With valuations remaining highly attractive, we expect the positive momentum to continue going forward," said Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib Limited, adding that the sharp rebound in the market was due to hopes of political stability restoring investor confidence.