The suspects, including a 16-year-old schoolgirl, were taken into custody in the city of Montpellier after agents from the DGSI intelligence agency monitored their computers for a number of weeks.
A “tourist site” in the French capital was the principle target of the gang who intended to use a suicide belt to cause maximum damage, according to local reports.
Police sources in Montpellier confirmed that a raid on a council estate in the city was “underway and that four people have been arrested”.
“Explosive substances” and computer equipment were seized by the police, who can now hold the suspects for up to four days before levelling charges, or releasing them.
It came a week after Abdallah El-Hamahmy, a 29-year-old Egyptian, ran into the Louvre museum in Paris with two machetes, and attacked a group of soldiers.
He was immediately shot five times, and ended up in hospital, where he is now recovering from stomach wounds.
Abdallah El-Hamahmy has since been linked to Islamic State, although he denies any affiliation to the terrorist group.
Islamic State were responsible for a series of attacks on Paris in 2015, murdering 130 people in a single night of violence on November 13th.
