France announced sweeping new measures to counter homegrown terrorism today, including giving security forces better weapons and protection, going on an intelligence agent hiring spree and creating a better database of anyone suspected of extremist links.

The measures detailed by Prime Minister Manuel Valls came as four men were handed preliminary charges of providing logistical support to one of the Paris terror attackers - the first charges issued for three days of mayhem that left 20 people dead, including three gunmen.

The new security measures include increased intelligence-gathering on jihadis and other radicals, in part by making it easier to tap phones. Valls said Internet providers and social networks "have a legal responsibility under French law" to comply with the new measures.

In all, France will spend 425 million euros ($650 million) over the next three years for all the counter-terror efforts, he said.

Some 2600 counter-terrorism officers will be hired, 1100 of them specifically for intelligence services. Anti-terror surveillance is needed for 3000 people with ties to France - some at home, others abroad, the prime minister said.

Also today, President Francois Hollande's office announced that the government now plans to cut 7500 fewer jobs from the military to better fight terrorism.

Authorities say more than 1200 French citizens and residents are now linked to foreign jihad - the defece minister said today about 10 of those who have gone to Syria or Iraq to fight with Islamic extremists are former French soldiers. Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian insisted the phenomenon remains an "extreme rarity."

Since three police were among those killed by the Paris terrorists, the prime minister said improving officers' weapons and protective gear was among the top priorities.

France has repeatedly strengthened its counterterrorism laws over the years, including a measure passed in November that focussed on preventing French extremists from joining fighters abroad. Another measure - expected to be activated in the coming weeks - would allow authorities to ask Internet service providers to block sites that glorify terrorism.