PARIS (Sputnik) – French police arrested eight people suspected of being involved in recruiting young French citizens for jihad, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday.
“8 arrests [were made] this morning in Paris and Lyon regions. These persons were placed in detention… These individuals are suspected of active participation in recruitment of young French in jihadism,” Cazeneuve was quoted as saying by the French Interior Ministry on Twitter.
The recruiters allegedly sent fighters to join jihadists in Syria, the minister said, local media report.
Around 1,400 people living in France have either joined the jihadist cause in the Middle East or are planning to do so, French authorities reported in January.
France stepped up its counter-terrorism activities following a string of terrorist attacks that hit the Paris region in early January. Suspected Islamic extremists born in France killed a total of 17 people in three separate incidents, each taking place a day apart.
