One of the five Russian citizens of Chechen origin was arrested in Beziers, while four others were caught in Montpellier. The man, who was arrested in Beziers, has been a French resident for “some time”, AP reports.
Soon after the arrest, police discovered an explosive near a stadium in Beziers. It was not clear whether the detained suspects planned a terrorist act, AP says.
France has been on high alert since the January 7-9 terror attacks in Paris that left 20 people dead, including three gunmen. Earlier today, the Paris prosecutor's office said four men were due to face charges after they were arrested on suspicion of having links to one of the gunman, who killed four people in the kosher shop in eastern Paris on January 9.
So far, nobody has been charged in relation to the January 7-9 attacks, in France’s deadliest terrorist attacks in decades, France24 says.
A series of terrorist attacks in Paris began on January 7, when two gunmen, identified as brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, walked into the editorial office of satirical Charlie Hebdo magazine and killed 12 people. Following a two-day manhunt, the attackers were killed by the French police. On January 9, Amedy Coulibaly killed four Jews in the kosher food shop in eastern Paris.
