Chechen teen arrested in France over Olympic terror plot

[Daniel B]

Sydney Morning Herald story

So an 18-year-old from Chechnya has been arrested in France over an alleged Islamist terror plot against the Paris Olympic Games.

My question is, what could Chechnya possibly gain from such an attack? They're fighting with Ukraine (so ipso facto with the West) against Russia; they want independence from Russia. It's not like Putin would care if they attacked France, nor would it help their cause in the eyes of the West at all. Even if they managed to hit some Russians (athletes, officials?) it's not going to change public sentiment one way or another.

Is this just a case of a lone wolf who is YDTMC, mixed with irrational Islamist terror-for-the-sake-of-terror ideology?

 

[Ballarat Bob]

Chechens are officially on the Russian side. Kadyrov the Chechen puppet leader has committed troops to the special military operation in Ukraine and did so very early on. However there are also anti Kadyrov Chechens fighting for Ukraine.
As I understand it after the two Chechen wars of independence there was a rush of Chechens who fled west a lot gaining asylum including in France.
Eighteen and getting radicalised isn't unheard of even if the perpetrator has lived in the west since birth. He could have got radicalised online or by a fire and brimstone preacher.
Unless they can link the individual to a group of anti Russian Chechens I would say this is more of a lone wolf. If you really want to jump down the wormhole it could be an attempt by Russia to destabilise the Olympics by supporting an attack using an easily manipulated kid under the cover of Islam.

 

[barreness]

Yep, not all Chechens are separatists and Russia is certainly not a big fan of the Islamic state. The recent European elections and Russian invasion also drive this, "everything bad that happens is Russia"(some of it probably is) is happening with every fire and bit of graffiti atm.

Probably just your standard anti 'west' thing(this includes Russian), if he's even convicted. This also screams 'oh we're doing all the stuff' from internal forces wanting some funding/pat on the backs

The domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, arrested the teen in Saint-Étienne, south-west of Lyon, on May 22, authorities said, calling it the “first foiled attack against the Olympic Games”.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the suspect had “intended to attack spectators” but also security forces to “die and become a martyr”, adding that it was the 50th attack foiled by intelligence services since 2017. The teenager had been scouting locations, according to a source close to the investigation.