France arrests 8 for recruiting militants for ISIL in Syria
French police have arrested eight people, including a woman, on suspicion that they were recruiting militants for the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group in conflict-ridden Syria.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the suspects were detained in several areas across the capital, Paris, as well as the eastern city of Lyon on Tuesday.
A French official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three of the detainees had traveled to Syria and returned in December 2014, adding that it remains unclear whether they joined the ISIL or another militant outfit.
The seven men and the woman had reportedly set up a network in May 2013 to send French militants to Syria. There is no indication that the group planned or was involved in any attack inside France in recent months.
The new arrests come as France along with a series of other European states have been on high alert after the office of French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, came under assault by two gunmen on January 7. Some 12 people were killed in the incident that left France in huge shock and fear.
The al-Qaeda branch in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack on Charlie Hebdo, saying that it chose and supported Said and Cherif Kouachi, the two brothers suspected of murdering the French journalists.
According to reports, some 1,000 French nationals from a wide range of backgrounds are estimated to have left the European country to join the Takfiri militants in Iraq and Syria. Some 400 of them are thought to be currently operating on the ground, while almost 50 were killed.
A recent UN Security Council report says more than 15,000 militants with over 80 nationalities, including Americans and Europeans, have joined terrorist groups fighting the Syrian government.
The ISIL militants currently control swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq. They have carried out heinous atrocities in both countries, including mass executions and beheadings.
MP/MKA/SS
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