In the middle of summer, anti-terrorism vigilance remains essential. Particularly with the persistent risk, in France and elsewhere in the world, of
radicalized minors taking action . This is one of the main components, along with
older and more solitary individuals , of what is called the
“endogenous threat .” On August 1 two young people aged 15 and 17 were charged with “criminal terrorist association.” The suspects, born in Val-de-Marne and Paris in 2010 and 2008, were arrested on July 29 and 30 as part of an investigation opened in April 2025.
Coming from families of Arab-Muslim origin, the teenagers had connected through a dedicated group created on an encrypted messaging service. Their exchanges were cause for concern. The two young people shared a fascination with the Islamic State and disseminated its propaganda. They also discussed plans to go abroad to wage jihad and were also heavy consumers of ultra-violent content.
Beyond the stage of fascination, they considered taking action by evoking various plans for violent actions. Among them were symbolic targets: synagogues, against a backdrop
of anti-Semitism and the conflict in the Middle East, or the Eiffel Tower, an old classic of jihadism. We recall that, in 1994, the Parisian monument was, according to a leader of the terrorist organization, a potential target of the Airbus hijacked by the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (GIA), and that, in 1995, before
the wave of Islamist attacks in France , this same GIA had distributed a drawing showing the tower flying to pieces under the impact of a bomb.
Dark web research
Whatever their potential objective, the two teenagers have already started searching the dark web, the cybercrime supermarket, to obtain weapons.Beyond the case itself, this affair once again illustrates a phenomenon that is increasingly worrying the French authorities. In early July, during a joint meeting in Paris, the intelligence services discussed this danger, emphasizing characteristics that perfectly match the profile of the two teenagers indicted on August 1
: increasingly younger individuals, susceptible to new narratives and new references favoring the cult of hyperviolence and the consumption of content unbearable for ordinary mortals, and, finally, who possess great digital dexterity.
In France, this rejuvenation continues to grow. Two minors were arrested in 2022, 15 in 2023, 18 in 2024, and at least 13 as of August 1, 2025. The combination is particularly unpredictable: immaturity, impulsiveness in the act, and bloody plans. As
announced in Le Figaro by the national anti-terrorism prosecutor, Olivier Christen, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) created a juvenile section last May to better address this phenomenon and attempt to identify its characteristics.
A phenomenon observed throughout the West
It should be noted, however, that this phenomenon is of course not limited to France, as suspects may also be in contact across borders, as was recently the case for young people in France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The latest report from Europol, the European Union’s criminal police agency, based on information provided by Member States, highlighted that, of the suspects arrested in the Union in 2024, nearly a third were under 20 years old.And news shows almost daily that the scourge is indeed affecting all Western countries. On August 20, in Montreal, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced the arrest of a 17-year-old suspect who had been under surveillance since the spring. According to Canadian counterterrorism, the teenager had pledged allegiance to Daesh and was seeking to acquire firearms.
