Israeli minister links ban to Paris attacks

The interior minister added that 128 raids on suspected Islamist militants had been carried out overnight on Monday to Tuesday, BBC reported.

Cazeneuve told France Info radio police were making rapid progress in their investigation into the attacks but declined to give further details.

The searches were conducted under emergency powers announced by President Francois Hollande in the wake of the attacks that killed 129 on Friday evening.

He said that “the majority of those who were involved in this attack were unknown to our services”.

Earlier, 168 raids across France resulted in the arrest of 23 people and the seizure of 31 weapons, including a rocket launcher in Lyon.

Bfmtv reported that the Grenoble raids took place in the Teisserie and Mistral districts and led to six arrests with weapons being seized.

Meanwhile the United States will make it easier to share planning information and intelligence with France after the Paris attacks, the Pentagon said yesterday.

Cazeneuve recalled that after arriving in Paris Monday night, Kerry said ultimately, Islamic State and all who shared their “despicable ideology” would be defeated. Four were French, while the fifth man was fingerprinted in Greece in October and was possibly Syrian.

A huge manhunt was under way for 26-year-old Belgian-born French national Salah Abdeslam, one of the key suspects of the attack.

One Islamist militant suspected of arms and drugs dealing was found to have Kalashnikov assault rifles, automatic handguns and bullet proof vests.

He is believed to have fled across the border to his native Belgium.

Questions have been raised about how he managed to evade capture after it emerged he was stopped by French police after the attacks but allowed to continue on his way.

Two of the total seven dead attackers were identified as Ismael Omar Mostefai, 29, and Bilal Hafdi, aged 20.