Paris, Nov 21 (IANS) French police have arrested seven men on terrorism charges over the weekend and foiled a planned attack, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Monday.
"The work of the DGSI (Directorate General of Internal Security) made it possible to foil a terrorist action planned for a long time on our soil," Cazeneuve told the media.
The suspects were arrested over the weekend -- two in the southern city of Marseille and the others in Strasbourg in east France, where the country's largest Christmas markets are due to open later this week, Xinhua news agency reported.
Aged between 29 and 37 years, the arrested suspects were from France, Morocco and Afghanistan, according to the minister.
"In spite of the effort we deploy, zero risk can not be guaranteed," Cazeneuve noted.
The French minister said 418 people had been arrested so far as part of anti-terror operations following deadly terror attacks in the country.