France: Three men charged over suspected bomb plot | World News

Three young suspected Islamic extremists have been charged with terror offences in France over an alleged bomb plot, prosecutors said on Sunday.

The three men aged between 19 and 20 are thought to have become radicalised while watching extremist videos online and were exchanging messages, sources close to the case told AFP.

One possible target of their alleged bomb plot was the mayor’s office in the central city of Poitiers, one of the security sources said on condition of anonymity.

Two of them have been charged with the unauthorised manufacture of explosives and possessing explosive materials, while all three have been charged with terrorist conspiracy, the French anti-terror prosecutors’ office said.

They were arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday in the southern city of Nimes and the western city of Nantes, the security sources said.

France has been regularly targeted by jihadists inspired by the Islamic State group or Al-Qaeda over the last decade, with authorities on a heightened state of alert because of tensions caused by Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza.