A teenage girl who wanted to launch an Islamic State suicide attack on a Paris tourist spot was arrested alongside her jihadi fiance in a ‘bomb factory’ in France today.

The 16-year-old, who has been named only as Zara Z., had been radicalised online and was planning to strike with her future husband, who was identified as Thomas S, 20.

On Wednesday she had recorded a video in which she expressed her loyal allegiance to Isis, saying she was ready to die for them.

Pictures taken inside the home in Montpellier where four people, including a 16-year-old girl, were arrested this morning

French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux confirmed four people have detained after a succession of arrests in Clapiers, Montpellier and Marseillan during which bomb-making materials were found

What Zara Z. did not know was that one of her web ‘mentors’ was in fact working for the DGSI, France’s domestic intelligence agency – the equivalent of Britain’s MI5.

After she started boasting about the planned attack online, the agent ordered a dawn raid on the couple’s flat in Clapiers, just north of the southern city of Montpellier.

It was carried out by heavily armed RAID police special forces, who ended up arresting the couple alongside two other men.

The attack would have targeted a tourist hotspot, anti-terror police believe, although it is not yet known where the bombers allegedly planned to strike

Last Friday Abdallah El-Hamahmy, a 29-year-old Egyptian, ran into the Louvre museum in Paris with two machetes, and attacked a group of soldiers

Both Zara Z. and Thomas S. were converts to Islam, and were planning to get married before visiting the Isil caliphate in Syria.

CARNIVAL ROUTE IN NICE CHANGED AFTER BASTILLE DAY ATROCITY For the first time in living memory, Nice's annual carnival will not include a parade down the famous Promenade des Anglais. Last July, 86 people were killed after a large truck was driven into a crowd in Nice during Bastille Day celebrations. The annual carnival in the city, which starts tomorrow, will instead follow an alternative route. Regional administrator Georges-Francois Leclerc told a news conference: 'Never has the level of security been so high for an event of this kind in Nice.' In previous years it has attracted a million people. Speaking at Friday's news conference, the right-wing president of the Riviera region, Christian Estrosi, said cancelling the carnival would be 'unthinkable'. 'That would be a sign to the barbarians, to the terrorists, that they would have scored another victory.' Advertisement

Then their plans were to return to France, where they would carry out the kamikaze attack on an unspecified target using suicide vests.

Bruno Le Roux, France’s Interior Minister, said the raid ‘foiled an imminent plan to carry out an attack on French territory.’

He said some 70 grams of the peroxide-based explosive, triacetone triperoxide, or TATP was found in the couple’s flat.

Also known as the ‘Mother of Satan’, TATP has been used by terrorist bombers for years, and figured prominently in the suicide belts used in the 2015 Isis attacks on Paris.

Also found in the flat were potential bomb-making material including other chemicals, syringes and plastic gloves.

The four suspects had been monitored online for months, and were arrested after buying acetone, the colorless, volatile, highly flammable liquid often used as an ingredient for detonators.

The other two suspects taken into custody were aged 26 and 33, said Mr Le Roux.

He added that an address was also searched in the Ardennes region of eastern France in connection with the plot.

A police source said that all four suspects ‘were living together’ and planning the Paris attack.

‘The girl was in online contact with a number of men she had never met, and one was an intelligence services operative,’ said the source.

‘She had an expressed a desire to fight in Syria, and also to attack a tourist spot in Paris. The spot had not yet been designated.’

It was exactly a week ago that Abdallah El-Hamahmy, a 29-year-old Egyptian, ran into the Louvre museum in Paris with two machetes, and attacked a group of soldiers.

He was immediately shot five times, and ended up in hospital, where he is now recovering from stomach wounds.

Abdallah El-Hamahmy has since been linked to Islamic State, although he denies any affiliation to the terrorist group.

Islamic State was responsible for November 13th 2015 attacks on Paris, in which 130 people were murdered in a single night of violence.

Suicide belts were used by Kalashnikov wielding operatives, most of whom came from France and Belgium.

A State of Emergency was imposed immediately afterwards, allowing agencies like the DGSI greater powers to monitor suspects.

Last September three women suspected of being part of a jihadi ‘commando unit’ were arrested after a car full of gas cannisters was found near Notre Dame Cathedral. All were charged with terrorism-related offences.

Suicide attacks by young girls are unheard of in Europe, although there have been a number of cases in Africa, including by bombers linked to Nigerian group Boko Haram.

A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE: TERROR ATTACKS IN FRANCE OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS A woman is taken to safety following the horrific shootings on November 13, 2015, in which 130 people were killed February 3, 2017 - A 29-year-old Egypitian man is shot five times in the stomach after attempting to attack four soldiers after being stopped outside the Louvre in Paris. July 14, 2016 - Amid Bastille Day celebrations in the Riviera city of Nice, a large truck is driven into a festive crowd. Some 86 people from a wide variety of countries are killed. The driver is shot dead. Islamic State extremists claim responsibility for the attack. The state of emergency in France is extended and extra protection, including robust barriers to prevent similar attacks, is put in place at major sites in France. June 13, 2016 - Two French police officers are murdered in their home in front of their 3-year-old son. Islamic State claims responsibility for the slaying, which was carried out by a jihadist with a prior terrorist conviction. He is killed by police on the scene. Nov. 13, 2015 - Islamic State militants kill 130 people in France's worst atrocity since World War II. A series of suicide bomb and shooting attacks are launched on crowded sites in central Paris, as well as the northern suburb of Saint-Denis. Most of those killed are in a crowded theater where hostages are taken. Islamic State extremists claim responsibility and say it was in retaliation for French participation in airstrikes on the militant group's positions in Syria and Iraq. It leads to the declaration of a state of emergency in France. Police powers are expanded. Jan. 7, 2015 - Two brothers kill 11 people inside the Paris building where the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is headquartered in what Islamic State extremists claim is retaliation for the publication of cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad. More are killed subsequently in attacks on a kosher market in eastern Paris and on police. There are 17 victims in all, including two police officers. The attackers are killed. (Source: AP) Advertisement