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French Minister: 'Advanced Stage' Terror Attack Foiled During Raids

According to the country's interior minister, the suspect had been on law enforcement's radar for months.

French Minister: 'Advanced Stage' Terror Attack Foiled During Raids
Getty Images / Thierry Chesnot
SMS

Raids in northwest Paris thwarted what officials are calling an “advanced stage” terror attack.

On Thursday morning, French police arrested a suspect who was reportedly part of a terrorist network planning to strike France.

Authorities evacuated a building and called in bomb squads as they searched the suburb about eight miles outside Paris.

The French interior minister told reporters the suspect had been on law enforcement's radar for months. He said, "At this stage, no tangible evidence links this project to the attacks of Paris and Brussels."

This arrest comes on the heels of 75 other terrorism-related arrests the country has made since the start of the year, according to the minister. 

France has been on high alert after terrorists killed 130 people and injured hundreds last November. In the month after those attacks, The New York Times reports, authorities conducted more than 2,700 police raids.

The sole surviving Paris attack suspect — Salah Abdeslam — was arrested late last week in Brussels. Days later, men who authorities have linked to Abdeslam carried out blasts in the Belgian capital, killing 31 and injuring hundreds.

This video includes clips from CBSFrance 24 and the French Interior Ministry and images from Getty Images.