French and Italian police detain 18 in anti-terror raids

Police in France and Italy detained a total of 18 people today, targeting a group suspected of planning terror attacks in Europe.

Seven people were detained in the Paris area and Normandy. French television station LCI said the suspects were believed to have links to an Algerian insurgency movement, the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known as the GSPC, which has declared its allegiance to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network.

In Italy, police raided offices and apartments in Milan, targeting 11 Algerians suspected of providing financial support to a terrorist group based in Algeria.

GSPC is the most structured group among Algerian Islamic insurgents battling the North African state since 1992 in a bid to topple the government.

In recent years, it has turned its sights on jihad, or holy war, beyond Algerian borders.