French officers have arrested seven people of
French, Moroccan and Afghan origin, in overnight raids in Strasbourg and
Marseille between Saturday to Sunday. The
arrests were made days before the start of one of the world's oldest and
largest Christmas markets. The city has been on high alert ahead of the
opening, with local officials warning it could be suspended or cancelled if
there were serious threats.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the raids
were linked to a series of arrests in June during the European Championships
that was held in cities across France. Five suspects have been arrested in
Strasbourg and two in Marseille and police say they were all aged from 29 to 37
years of age.
The raids in Strasbourg reportedly took place in the
Neuhof and Meinau neighbourhoods, where authorities dismantled a jihadi network
in 2014 that included the brother of an ISIS bomber who attacked the Bataclan
concert hall in Paris last year. 'Serious information made these arrests
necessary,' one source said. Cazeneuve, who did not reveal the target of the
alleged plot, said six of those arrested hadn't been known to intelligence
services, and one was a Moroccan who had been flagged to France by a foreign
government. He said the arrests
prevented 'a terrorist act that had been envisaged for a long time.' The
arrests came five days before the opening of the famed Christmas market in
Strasbourg, which attracts tourists from across Europe and was the target of a
failed extremist plot in 2000.
Cazeneuve said 43 people have been arrested in
November alone as part of anti-terror operations following deadly Islamic State
attacks on France over the past two years. France remains in a state of
emergency a year after attacks by ISIS jihadists on Paris which left 130 people
dead. Police have detained 418 people this year in terrorism investigations
while 43 people have been arrested in November alone as part of anti-terror
operations, Cazeneuve added.
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