France arrests man in ‘advanced stages’ of terror plot, as bomb squads lock down Paris neighbourhood

A Frenchman in the “advanced stages” of a plot to attack the country was arrested on Thursday northwest of Paris and security forces locked down the area during a major search, France’s interior minister said.

Bernard Cazeneuve said there were no links “at this stage” between the plot and the attacks against Brussels this week or Paris in November.

Cazeneuve said bomb squads were on site. The raid took place in Argenteuil, on the northern outskirts of the French capital. He noted that the person arrested was implicated at a “high level” in the plot, but offered no details.

Witnesses said that the immediate area had been locked down, and residents were unable to return home for hours after the raid began.

France has been on high alert since the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds. Cazeneuve said there had been 75 arrests since the beginning of the year, and 28 suspects had been jailed.

A 23-year-old resident of the neighbourhood described seeing heavily masked and armed officers surround the entrance to an apartment building before entering and emerging with the suspect, his head covered in a scarf.