A Frenchman in the "advanced stages" of a plot to attack the country has been arrested northwest of Paris and security forces locked down the area during a major search, France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says.
He said there were no links "at this stage" between the plot and the attacks against Brussels this week or Paris in November.
Bomb squads were on site, he added. The raid took place in Argenteuil, on the northern outskirts of the French capital. He said the person arrested was implicated at a "high level" in the plot, but offered no details.
Witnesses told France's i-Tele network the immediate area had been locked down, and residents were unable to return home.
France has been on high alert since the November 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds.
Cazeneuve said there had been 75 arrests since the beginning of the year, and 28 suspects had been jailed.
