DR ‹ › Two Moroccan brothers who also hold Italian citizenship were placed under investigation and detained in France on Sunday on suspicion of planning what authorities described as a «deadly and anti-Semitic» terrorist attack. The French National Counterterrorism Prosecution Office said the brothers, aged 20 and 22, were arrested at dawn on March 10 inside a car parked near Longuenesse Prison in the Pas-de-Calais region of northern France. During questioning, the suspects admitted they had been considering carrying out an attack in France for several weeks, after concluding that traveling to Syria to join jihad was no longer possible. According to prosecutors, they also expressed their aspiration to achieve martyrdom. The French judiciary charged the brothers with forming a criminal terrorist group and acquiring and possessing a weapon. Police discovered inside the car a semi-automatic firearm loaded with 9mm ammunition, a bottle of hydrochloric acid, pieces of aluminum, and a flag of the Islamic State (ISIS). Investigators also revealed that the brothers arrived in France with their parents in 2017 after several years living in Italy, where authorities found they had been closely following jihadist propaganda for months. Their radicalization is believed to have begun around two years ago, with a notable intensification in the days leading up to their arrest. Authorities also found a video recorded on March 7 in which one of the brothers pledged allegiance to ISIS, as well as photos showing the two men posing with firearms and a knife while wearing military-style clothing in front of the group's flag. According to the prosecution, the suspects were also in contact through encrypted messaging applications with extremists or individuals previously convicted of terrorism-related offenses. Their communications included attempts to acquire pistols and assault rifles, which investigators viewed as a clear indication of a planned violent act.
