Alleged terrorist attack foiled near Sartrouville, France following earlier incidents in Nice & Avignon – reports

A man has been arrested near the Saint-Martin church in Sartrouville in possession of a knife, amid earlier attacks and incidents across France on Thursday.

A security cordon has been established in the area while investigations are carried out. The surrounding area was evacuated while bomb disposal teams investigated the suspect's car but no traces of explosives were found.

The man was arrested in Sartrouville near Paris at approximately 1pm local time, according to French media, who also claim the man intended to carry out a copycat attack similar to the one which took place in Nice on Thursday morning in which at least three people were killed.

The would-be attacker's father reportedly raised the alarm with police, who scrambled to the church and quickly arrested him.

The news comes amid a slew of incidents across France in the wake of the Nice attack, including a police shooting in Avignon, the evacuation of a train station in Toulon and the arrest of a man in possession of a 30cm knife near a train station in Lyon.

Authorities in France raised the country’s terror threat alert system to its highest level amid the series of events on Thursday. 

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