The DCRI domestic intelligence service, supported by elite police commandos, carried out arrests in the southern cities of Marseilles and Valence, two towns in the southwest and in the northeastern town of Roubaix, a police source said.
The raids follow the arrest of 19 people on March 30, a week after police snipers shot dead al-Qaeda-inspired gunman Mohamed Merah, who killed three Jewish schoolchildren, a rabbi and three soldiers in a spate of attacks around Toulouse.
"Those arrested have a similar profile to Mohamed Merah," a local police source said. "They are isolated individuals, who are self-radicalised."
He said the suspects were tracked on Islamist forums expressing extreme views and said they were preparing to travel to areas including Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Sahel belt to wage jihad (holy war). » | Source: Reuters | Wednesday, April 04, 2012
