France prevented five terrorist attacks in 2015

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Thursday that five terrorist attacks had been foiled since the beginning the year, including the imminent church attack planned by Sayed Ahmed Ghlam, a young French-Algerian student arrested on Sunday in Paris.

When asked during an interview with France Inter radio station about the number of attacks prevented in Paris since early January, Valls confirmed that it was five, including by Ghlam, Efe news agency reported.

The premier said that the 24-year-old computer science student was ordered by another person to carry out an attack on one or more churches, and that since he was arrested for the murder of a young woman in the Parisian suburb of Villejuif, it was justifiable to specifically disclose his case.

However, Valls refused to give further details on how or when Ghlam acquired any weaponry, or whether he had accomplices, but said that the young man was not working alone and that there are networks that provide logistical support to terrorists.

The prime minister insisted that the terrorist threat in France "has never been more dangerous" given that 1,773 French citizens or residents have links with jihadi recruitment networks, while 442 French nationals went to Syria or Iraq, 97 of whom died there.