France detains six people suspected of recruiting jihadists

PARIS - Six people have been detained in France on suspicion of recruiting candidates for jihad, a judicial source said Wednesday, as the number of French citizens travelling to Iraq and Syria increases.

The suspects, two of whom are minors, were held in the suburbs of the eastern city of Lyon as part of an "anti-terrorism" probe launched in July.

According to a police source, a brother and a sister are among those detained since Tuesday, and one of the suspects is linked to Forsane Alizza (Knights of Pride), an Islamist extremist group that had called for France to become an Islamic caliphate and was banned in 2012.