French authorities have detained five people suspected of helping a knifeman who murdered two women in the southern port city of Marseille at the weekend before he was shot dead by patrolling troops, reports Radio France Internationale.
The attacker has been named as 29-year-old Ahmed Hanachi from Tunisia. Four of the five people detained on Tuesday are related to Hanachi.
Meanwhile, five other people are still in custody after being detained by French authorities over an apparent failed bombing attempt in an apartment building in a chic Paris neighborhood.
The detentions come as French parliament approved a new security law intended to strengthen police and intelligence capacity in fighting the extremist threat
The law will make permanent some of the measures imposed as part of a state of emergency introduced just after the 2015 Paris attacks.
Critics say the bill infringes on individual liberties and puts the country in a permanent state of emergency.