French captured among extremist fighters in Mali, sent home

Paris: The Paris prosecutor’s office says a Frenchman captured among extremist fighters in northern Mali has been brought to France and placed in custody. He joins two other Frenchmen accused of terrorist-related activity in Mali, where the French military is leading an operation against al-Qaida-linked Islamic radicals. The prosecutor’s office says the 37-year-old who returned on Tuesday has joint French-Algerian citizenship and is from the southern Rhones-Alpes region. [caption id=“attachment_667141” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image for representation only. AP[/caption] French authorities fear that homegrown radicals could travel to hotspots and return home with skills to stage terrorist attacks in Europe. France has been on higher-than-usual alert for terrorist activity since launching the campaign in Mali, and since a radical gunman killed Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi at a school in Toulouse a year ago Tuesday. AP