France foils terror attack on its military installations

Paris, July 16: Authorities in France have claimed to foil a terror attack on its military installations, media reported on Thursday.

Four persons were arrested by the specialist counter-terror police on Wednesday, CNN reported.

The news of the arrests followed a statement from President Francois Hollande, who said attacks had been thwarted in recent days. "This week, we stopped terrorist attacks which could have taken place," Hollande said on a visit to the southern city of Marseille.

France remains on high alert more than six months after jihadist attacks in January that claimed 17 lives and started with shootings at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Last month, the beheading of a local businessman in an attempt to blow up a factory near Lyon also caused uproar in France.

The suspected plotters are now in the custody of France's intelligence services, the DGSI, and anti-terrorist prosecutors in Paris have opened a probe, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. "I want to congratulate our security services for this new blow to the terrorists and for again foiling an attack," said the minister.

There are 1,850 French citizens or people living in France who are "implicated" in jihadist networks, with around 500 in Syria or Iraq, authorities said.

France, which is home to Europe's largest Muslim population, has beefed up security, posting 30,000 police officers and soldiers outside 500 sites deemed "sensitive" such as schools and places of worship. Authorities have also set up a hotline for friends or family concerned that someone could be tempted to wage jihad -- an effort that has yielded 2,500 leads.

OneIndia News( with inputs from agencies)