French Police Detain Suspects in New Terror Plot Seven French, Moroccan and Afghan nationals held after arrests in Marseille and Strasbourg By Inti Landauro and Matthew Dalton
http://www.wsj.com/articles/french-police-detain-suspects-in-new-terror-plot-1479750064
French police have detained seven people suspected of plotting a terror attack in France, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday.
The seven individuals were arrested in Marseille on the Mediterranean coast and in Strasbourg on the border with Germany over the weekend after an eight-month investigation, Mr. Cazeneuve said at a news conference.
“Yesterday, the department of interior security foiled a terrorist action that was being planned for a long time on our soil,” he said.
The suspects—whose names weren’t disclosed—had links with five people detained on June 14 ahead of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament held in France, he said.
Investigators suspect some of the men spent time fighting with extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, a French official said.
The sweeping police operation shows French security forces are still on edge in France, fearing terrorists may strike again after a series of attacks that have killed more than 200 people over the past 12 months.
The suspects detained over the weekend are French, Moroccan and Afghan nationals aged between 29 and 37, Mr. Cazeneuve said. Only one of them had been previously identified by French police as a potential suspect, he said.
The Moroccan man had been flagged by Portuguese antiterror police in the summer of 2015 as a suspected member of a terrorist group, Portuguese police said in a statement.
As many as 418 people with links to terrorist networks have been detained since the start of the year, Mr. Cazeneuve said.
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