French police launched on Tuesday a series of anti-terrorism operations around the country, leading to the arrest of at least seven suspects, a police source said.
The raids took place in the greater Paris region of Île-de-France and the Alpes-Maritimes department on the south coast.
Media organizations including Le Parisien newspaper and BFM TV said at least seven people were arrested in a series of raids by elite police troops in the Paris region as well as southeastern towns, including Menton and Aix-en-Provence.
An official source said that the arrests were prompted by suspicious activity on social networks that suggested an attack was in the works. The official, who was not authorized to be publicly named discussing security operations, would not provide further details.
The operation comes a week after France introduced tougher national security laws to permanently replace emergency powers given to police and intelligence services following deadly attacks by Islamist militants on Paris two years ago.
More than 240 people have been killed in France since early 2015 in attacks by Islamist militants or assailants inspired by the ISIS militant group, which has sought to establish a caliphate in Syria and Iraq and called for attacks on France.
France is among countries contributing to military operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
