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Police officer in Paris (symbol image)
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IAN LANGSDON / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
France has been rocked by Islamist terrorist attacks for years.
The authorities have now taken a large-scale action against alleged terrorist supporters.
In 55 searches in 26 French departments, 29 people were taken into custody.
As the French anti-terrorist prosecutor announced, a criminal network is said to have transferred hundreds of thousands of euros in favor of members of the Al-Qaeda terror network in Syria or jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia.
The suspects are between 22 and 66 years old.
According to the prosecutor, most of them are said to have financed recipients close to them in Syria.
Transfer to Syria via cryptocurrency
Preliminary investigations had already started in January.
So-called crypto currencies such as Bitcoin were used for the transfers.
These allow largely anonymous payments and are mainly used for payments on the Internet.
The suspects are said to have bought so-called vouchers, which the jihadists in Syria then redeemed.
Just last Friday, a 25-year-old from Pakistan seriously injured two people with a knife in the immediate vicinity of the former editorial offices of the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris.
In this case too, the anti-terror prosecutor is investigating.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the attack was "clearly an Islamist act of terrorism".
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mes / dpa / AFP