French police investigating a suspected bomb factory near Paris found more ingredients on Thursday which could have been used to make the explosive device known as TATP. Three suspects have been arrested.
The ingredients were found during a search of an enclosed parking space belonging to the owner of the flat in the Parisian suburb of Villejuif where police found bomb-making materials the day before.
On Wednesday police located gas canisters and electrical wiring, along with similar ingredients required for the TATP explosive, commonly used by the Islamic State (IS) group.
Police believe the men were preparing attacks and had made calls to Syria, a minister said Thursday.
Anti-terror police launched raids following a tip-off from a worker at the building who has been praised for his “citizen’s reflex” for reporting suspicious activity.
The Paris daily Le Parisien reported that the workman was a plumber working to fix a recurrent leak.
He was outside the building when he spotted chemicals on a balcony of the flat, then saw a soldering iron and a hot plate through the window, the paper reported, quoting a source close to the probe.