Two more people were placed in police custody on Monday, March 30, 2026 as part of the investigation into the attempted attack on the Paris headquarters of the Bank of America, bringing the total number of people in custody to five, the Pnat (National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office) reported. These are two adults, according to a source close to the case. The custody of the minors arrested on Saturday and Sunday has been “extended,” the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said.
So far, few details have been released about the profile of the individuals arrested. “Additional information will be provided at the end of the current custody period,” the prosecutor said. On Saturday night, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez mentioned a “minor” with a common criminal profile.
According to a source close to the case, the two adults in custody have a common criminal profile, like the three minors. Their exact role in the attempted attack has yet to be established. The minister had, on Saturday night, made a “connection” with the war in the Middle East, seeing “similarities” in the modus operandi of this attempted attack with actions carried out in several European countries and claimed by a mysterious group considered to be close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Context of the War in the Middle East
In a telegram sent on Sunday to internal security forces, he mentioned “the context inherent to Israeli-American operations in Iran” which requires “the highest level of attention,” and called for “strengthening vigilance measures” in France, especially around “Israeli-American sites and those representing the interests of these countries.”
The events took place on Saturday morning, around 3:30 a.m., on La Boétie Street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, in front of the Bank of America offices. Police arrested a man who had just planted an improvised explosive device, according to sources close to the case. This man was about to ignite the device with a lighter. He was accompanied by a second individual who fled on foot.
According to initial findings, the two men had arrived on foot outside the American establishment. While the first man planted the device, the second stepped back, apparently to take photos or a video with his phone. The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office immediately took up the case and opened an investigation into “attempted destruction by fire or dangerous means in connection with a terrorist enterprise.”
The investigation was entrusted to the anti-terrorism section of the judicial police’s criminal brigade in Paris and to the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI). The explosive device consisted of a 5-liter transparent container of liquid, likely a hydrocarbon, and a igniting system, according to one of the sources.
The young man arrested, described as a “minor” by the prosecution, claimed to be of Senegalese nationality according to a source close to the case. He explained, according to a police source, that he was recruited via the Snapchat application to carry out this operation for a sum of 600 euros. While Laurent Nuñez said he did not know who the “mastermind” was, he mentioned the “suspicion” of an action carried out by “proxies” – intermediaries – of the Iranians.
