French Police Dismantle Network Sending Extremists to Syria

Local Editor

French police launched raids across the country early on Monday, dismantling a network sending extremist fighters to Syria, a police source said.

Elite and anti-terror police units descended on around a dozen targets, mostly in the southern region of Toulouse, but also around Paris and in the northern region of Normandy, the source said on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately clear how many people were arrested.

In recent months France has been facing the fact that hundreds of its citizens have openly joined extremist groups in Iraq and Syria and have even called for attacks on their homeland.

The new reality was driven home in a video from the "ISIL" group released in mid-November, showing three Kalashnikov-wielding Frenchmen burning their passports and calling on "Muslims to join them or stage attacks in France."

Almost 1,000 French nationals from a wide range of backgrounds are estimated to have left to join extremists in Iraq and Syria, including some 400 thought to be currently fighting on the ground and almost 50 who were killed.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team