France says it foiled jihadi attack near Orleans

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Paris • French authorities say they thwarted a jihadi attack last week in an area near the central French city Orleans.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday on a visit near Toulouse that the planned attack targeted "soldiers, police and representatives of the state," and that two French citizens aged 20 and 24 were arrested on Dec. 19.

Cazeneuve said that the two were in contact with a French jihadi in Syria and that an investigation is going to establish the exact links between the thwarted attack and the jihadi.

Cazeneuve said this brings the total number of foiled attacks in France to 10 since 2013. He also said that 3,414 people have been turned away from France's borders since a state of emergency was declared after last month's Paris attacks.