At least five held in ‘anti-jihadist’ raid in France

Breaking news from the French edition of The Local

 At least five people have been arrested after an anti-jihadist operation in southern France, which is still ongoing. The operation took place in the small town of Lunel east of Montpellier in southern France, from where around 20 young people have left for Syria. Six of them, aged 18 to 30, have been killed since October.
   
Crack French security forces launched the operation at 6am in a building in the centre of the town, according to witnesses that spoke to AFP.

Another witness said authorities had taken away his brother. “They flattened me, got me on the floor, hit me. Then they took away my brother,” this man said.

French security sources have pointed to the small town of Lunel as a “recruitment network” for jihadists.

Some 1,400 people living in France have either joined the jihadist cause in Syria and Iraq or are planning to do so, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said earlier this month.