French police dismantle network sending jihadist fighters to Syria
French police launched raids across the country early on Dec. 15,
dismantling a network sending jihadist fighters to Syria, a police
source told AFP.
The image shows ISIL members, with among them a jihadist, French citizen Maxime Hauchard (R), also known as Abu Abdallah al-Faransi
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, which has Europe's largest Muslim population, has
been facing the fact that hundreds of its citizens have openly joined
jihadist 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 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) released in
mid-November, showing three Kalashnikov-wielding Frenchmen burning their
passports and calling on Muslims to join them or stage attacks in
France.
A grisly execution video released around the same time featured at least one French citizen who hailed from a small village in Normandy and converted to Islam in his teens.
Almost 1,000 French
nationals from a wide range of backgrounds are estimated to have left
to join jihadists in Iraq and Syria, including some 400 thought to be
currently fighting on the ground and almost 50 who were killed.
According
to figured published in the Le Monde newspaper in November, about a
quarter of those who left to join the jihadists were converts to Islam,
with many coming from everyday French backgrounds.
Source: hurriyetdailynews
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