France: Four arrested for planning terrorist attack

Four people have been arrested in the city of Montpellier in southern France for planning a terrorist attack, Reuters reports, according to Patria.

Police and judicial sources state that, among others, a 20-year-old man and his 16-year-old girlfriend, both known to investigative authorities for radicalism, are in custody. They also state that the arrested individuals were planning to carry out attacks in Paris.

During the search of the arrested male individual's home, police found explosives and bomb-making materials, sources say.

France, which is preparing for the first round of presidential elections scheduled for just over 2 months from now, remains on alert due to possible attacks by Islamic militants.

More than 230 people have lost their lives in a series of attacks since the beginning of 2015, and a state of emergency has been in effect in the country since November of the same year.

Last Friday, a man attacked soldiers with a machete near the Louvre Museum in the center of Paris.