French police arrested five people, including one on a terror watchlist, after discovering a suspected home-made bomb in one of Paris's most exclusive neighbourhoods at the weekend, officials said.
Officers discovered gas cylinders with detonators attached in the hallway and outside a building in the city's western 16th district in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The five suspects, all in their 30s, remain in custody, a source close to the investigation told AFP on Tuesday.
Some are known to police for belonging to a radical movement, the source added.
Speaking to Franceinfo radio on Tuesday, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb revealed that one of the arrested men was on a police terror watchlist.
"That shows that the threat level in France is extremely high," added the minister, who said the incident and a knife attack in Marseille on Sunday that left two women dead underlined the importance of a tough new security law.
French lawmakers in the lower house of parliament were set to vote later Tuesday on a new counter-terrorism law that rights groups and UN experts have criticised for giving too much power to police and local government officials.
In Saturday's incident, a resident alerted police after finding two gas cylinders around 4:30 am (0230 GMT) in his building in the Porte d'Auteuil neighbourhood, a source close to the probe said.
Police then found another two cylinders outside the building.
A mobile phone attached to the cylinders is being investigated as a possible detonator, a security source told AFP.
A total of 241 people have been killed in a wave of jihadist attacks in France since 2015.
On September 12, Collomb said that 12 planned attacks had been foiled since the beginning of the year.
Three suspected women jihadists were arrested in September last year after the discovery of gas cylinders in a car near Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral.
Source: AFP
GMT 22:18 2017 Tuesday ,18 April
2 held over attack plot days ahead of French voteGMT 13:47 2017 Tuesday ,28 March
Riots in Paris after Chinese man shot deadGMT 08:01 2017 Saturday ,18 March
France Remains on Alert After School Shooting and Letter BombGMT 14:57 2017 Friday ,10 February
French police arrest 4 suspected of planning terrorist assaultGMT 23:46 2016 Monday ,21 November
Police foil planned suicide attack in FranceMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor