8 held in France over terror affiliations
French authorities have arrested eight people on suspicion of involvement in a network to send fighters to join Islamic extremists in Syria, the interior minister said today.
According to the times of Malta, France is on alert after 20 people were killed in the deadliest terrorist attacks in decades.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the eight were arrested in the Paris and Lyon areas today. He added that there is no suspected link to the January 7-9 attacks.
Police are trying to thwart new violence and find possible accomplices to three radical Islamic gunmen who attacked satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.
The men claimed allegiance to extremists in the Middle East.
France has seen hundreds of home-grown radicals join Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq.
The men arrested today are being questioned by terrorism investigators.
M. Wassouf