Speaking at a news conference in Paris, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said “a new blow has been dealt to terrorism” with the arrests in the Herault region.
Police units carried out an early morning raid in in the small town of Lunel overseen by the anti-terror branch of the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Five men aged between 26 and 44 were arrested and remain in police custody. Law enforcement agenst also conducted several searches.
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Over the past year, he said, more than 10 young men have left their hometown of Lunel for Syria, where they joined the ranks of ISIS. Several of them have died in fighting in Syria or Iraq.
In total, 73 French nationals have died under the same circumstances, he said.
