An agent of the French intelligence services accidentally sent a text message containing data on a suspected radical Islamic preacher to that same cleric he was spying on, M6 Info reported.
The agent, who works for the Central Service of Territorial Surveillance in France, was attempting to send the most recent data on the cleric to one of his colleagues via text message, but instead sent the message to the cleric himself after mixing up the phone numbers.
John Schindler (Twitter)
The cleric responded to the text, telling the agent that he is incompetent. The cleric then told his associates he had been in contact with that they were most likely under government surveillance, as well.
The cleric, who was suspected of preaching an extremist version of Islam in the Ile-de-France region, was also being investigated by the General Directorate for Internal Security. The agency had to call off their investigation following the mistake.
France is still in a state of emergency following a number of terrorist attacks in the country, including a number of them in Paris.
Most recently, on October 1, two women, ages 17 and 20, were killed at a Marseille, France, train station by a man dressed in all black. One woman had her throat cut while the other was stabbed in the chest and stomach.
In November 2015, multiple shooting and grenade attacks occurred at a number of venues including bars and restaurants, a sports stadium and at an Eagles of Death Metal concert inside the Bataclan theater. The terrorists killed 130 people including 89 at the Bataclan.
