Source: Xinhua| 2020-01-26 04:56:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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PARIS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- French judges placed seven men under formal investigation on suspicion of planning assaults in the western city of Brest, where France's second main military port is located, local radio reported on Saturday.

The men, aged 16 to 38, are suspected of plotting attacks against several targets, the report said, citing a source close to the investigation.

The suspects were put under formal investigation over charges "of belonging to a criminal association in relation to a terrorist undertaking." They would stay in custody pending trial, it reported.

The men were arrested early this week in a counter-terrorism raid. Many of them are on the police watchlist for radicalization.

The report added no weapons and explosives were found during the search. But police found downloaded leaflets detailing how to make home-made explosives or poison, documents of Islamist propaganda and allegiances to the new head of the Islamic State group (IS).

France has become a major target of terrorist attacks following its military operations in Iraq, Syria and the Sahel region in Africa.

It has seen several attacks on home soil claimed by IS, with the deadliest one occurring in Paris in November 2015, killing 130 people and injuring more than 400.