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Chechens arrested in southern France for posession of explosives

The five Russian citizens are reportedly connected to organised crime and are not believed to have been planning a terrorist operation.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Police have arrested five Chechens in southern France on suspicion of preparing an attack, a police source said on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

The source said four had been arrested in Montpellier or nearby, and a fifth in Beziers. Midi Libre newspaper reported that a cache of explosives was found during police searches.

The case has not been passed onto the anti-terrorist section of the Paris prosecutor's office, a judicial source said. TV station LCI said organized crime and score settling between Chechen gangs was at the source of the suspects' plan.

Russia's foreign ministry said its diplomats had confirmed to French authorities that five people detained by police were Russian citizens.

Read more of this report from Reuters.