French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on Tuesday said at least four people suspected of having links with radical Islamist groups were arrested in Ile-de-France.
Speaking to the news channel BFMTV, the minister said dozens of French citizens joined Islamist cells in Syria and the Sahel region stressing the need to "continue dismantling these networks that are willing to act in the French territory or recruit people for the jihad."
After sending its troops in Mali on January 11 this year, France raised its terror alert to the highest level on fears of reprisals after its military commitment to help Malian authorities to stop Islamist rebels offensive.
Last month, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group claimed responsibility of kidnapping up to 41 foreigner workers in a gas facility in Algeria, a plant that is operated by a joint venture including BP, Norwegian oil firm, and Algerian state company Sonatrach.
37 hostages, including a French citizen, were killed during an Algerian military rescue operation.