Two men arrested earlier this week on charge of having explosive materials planned an assault and were placed under formal investigation for terrorism charge, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Sunday.
"Their project was to make a bomb to commit an attack, But, no project identified at this stage, even if one of them admitted that they had planned to attack soldiers of Operation Sentinel," Molins said.
"They had agreed to commit an attack on the national territory to avenge the (U.S.-led) coalition," he added.
During a counter-terrorism flat raid in Villejuif, Paris suburbs on Wednesday, police seized material aimed "at processing parcel bomb," according to Molins.
He added that "the found substances could have made it possible to make between 3 and 4 kilos of TATP," an explosive that the Islamic State (IS) had frequently used in its attacks.
The suspects are the apartment owner, aged 36 and 37 respectively.
The two men who "admitted having wanted to join IS in 2015," were placed under formal investigation, Molins said.
Risks of terror attacks remain high in France where emergency security laws have been imposed after about 130 people were killed in the November 2015 Paris attacks, which were claimed by the IS.

source: Xinhua