Isis commanders in Syria 'directed failed plot to launch new terror attack in Paris'

Woman in cell was betrothed to jihadists killed in two attacks earlier this year

French police during a raid in Boussy-Saint-Antoine near Paris on Wednesday (Reuters)

A cell of young women including one who had been engaged to two terrorists who were both later killed has been directed by Isis commanders in Syria to attempt another attack in France.

Their plot failed after police discovered a car filled with gas canisters and containers of fuel near Notre Dame cathedral, sparking an investigation that is rapidly uncovering links with a far wider network of French extremists.

“There’s a group that has been annihilated, but there are others,” President Francois Hollande said. “Information we were able to get from our intelligence services allowed us to act before it was too late.”

Francois Molins, the Paris prosecutor, said the women were guided by members of Isis from its strongholds.

French policemen take part in a police raid in Boussy-Saint-Antoine (Reuters)

One of the seven arrested so far, named as Sarah H, had been betrothed to two extremists who have since been killed, he added.

The 23-year-old was first engaged to Larossi Abballa, who was shot dead in a police raid after murdering a police officer and his wife earlier this year, and then to teenage Normandy church attacker Adel Kermiche, who was killed during the assault in July.

Her current fiancé, who has not been identified, was arrested on Thursday, Mr Molins said.

“A terrorist cell comprised of young women has been dismantled,” he added. “They were guided by individuals in Syria in the ranks of Islamic State.”

A 19-year-old suspect in the group, Ines Madani, allegedly wanted to travel to Syria and wrote a letter declaring allegiance to Isis.

She is also reported to have links with Hayat Boumeddiene, the wife of supermarket attacker Amedy Coulibaly who now lives in Isis territory.

A car containing gas cannisters discovered near Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on 4 September. (AFP/Getty Images)

Madani’s father, the owner of the car found in the early hours of Sunday morning, was already suspected of wanting to travel to Syria to fight for the group by police.

He was taken into custody earlier this week but later released after presenting himself to police on Sunday to report his daughter had disappeared with the vehicle.

The Peugeot 607 was found abandoned in Rue du Petit-Pont, with its hazard lights flashing and no number plates.

Police sources said no detonator had been found in the car, which contained six gas cylinders and three containers of diesel.

Gas canisters and fuel can be used in attempts to make car bombs, such as those discovered and disabled in London in 2007 and explosives used by Algerian extremists in Paris during the 1990s.

“These three women aged 39, 23 and 19 had been radicalised, were fanatics and were in all likelihood preparing an imminent, violent act,” interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said, describing a “race against time”.

Madani, who stabbed a police officer attempting to detain the trio on Thursday, was shot in the leg during the altercation in Boussy-Saint-Antoine.

Footage recorded by a neighbour showed a woman wearing an Islamic veil being carried away by police as she cries out “Allahu Akbar” or “God is Great” in Arabic.

Television footage showed officers leaving the scene carrying a large knife. Five women and two men have so far been arrested in the case.

An official from the French interior ministry previously said the group intended to attack the Gare de Lyon on Thursday.

It lies south-east city centre, little over a mile from where the car was found abandoned near Notre Dame.

Terror attacks have killed more than 230 in France since January last year, with the Charlie Hebdo massacre carried out by al-Qaeda sympathisers followed by Isis’ Paris attacks, a string of lone wolf murders and the Nice attack that left more than 80 dead.

Isis has called on its supporters to launch attacks on French soil as the country continues to take part in international air strikes against its militants in Syria and Iraq.