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Cazeneuve said that the seven men arrested, who ranged in age from 29 to 37, were a mix of French, Moroccan and Afghan citizens, but he did not provide a detailed breakdown. Six of them were unknown to French intelligence before the investigation began, he said, and the seventh, a Moroccan citizen, had been flagged to French authorities by what he called a “partner country.”

The arrests occurred a few days before the opening of the popular Christmas market in Strasbourg, which attracts more than 2 million visitors every year. In 2000, Islamist militants who had trained in Afghanistan and were active in France and Germany planned to bomb the market, but the plot was averted.

The mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, said at a news conference Monday that the market was not the target of the latest plot. He said the market would go on unless there were a “direct and proven threat.”

Five people suspected of having links to the same network as the seven men were arrested June 14 — a few days into the Euro 2016 soccer tournament being held in France — and two of them were kept in custody, Cazeneuve said.

The arrests were not made public at the time. Only a day earlier, a 25-year-old Islamic State sympathizer killed a police captain and his companion in the town of Magnanville, outside Paris. But the soccer tournament, which stretched over a month, occurred without incident.

France has been under a state of emergency since the November 2015 attacks in the capital region. That gives authorities broad powers to conduct raids and detain people under house arrest, among other powers. President François Hollande has said the government will seek to extend the state of emergency until the presidential election next spring.