Pak link to terror plot against Indian mission in France
LONDON: Two months after he was shot dead by French special forces, a 23-year-old Algerian-origin terrorist was found to have been plott
ing to attack the Indian embassy in Paris on the direction of his Taliban handlers in Pakistan. Quoting sources from
the French Internal Intelligence and the Special Forces, Le Monde reported that Mohamed Merah's Taliban handlers in Pakistan had tasked him to attack the Indian mission.
"That was the target given him by the Taliban who prepared him for jihad during his training in Pakistan in the summer of 2011," the paper reported. Merah was killed after police and special forces laid an almost 32-hour siege of his apartment in Toulouse, after his armed attacks on a Jewish school and killing of army personnel outside their barracks on March 15.
During the siege, the terrorist had long chats with the policemen surrounding his house, which were recorded and are now part of the judicial dossier. Merah told cops that he had dropped the plan to attack the Indian mission due to difficulty of the enterprise . He also said that he had attended jihad camps in Pakistan and undergone al-Qaida training. Merah had long been known to the French authorities as a petty criminal but his links to Islamist extremism drew attention at a later stage.
Pak link to terror plot against Indian mission in France - The Times of India
Pak-trained militant plotted to attack Indian embassy in Paris - World - DNA
French intelligence warned India of...