3 French Charged in IS-Inspired Plan

PARIS (AP) -- The Paris prosecutor's office says three young men arrested this week in a plot to attack a military base were in contact with an Islamic State group jihadi who told them to "strike in France."

Preliminary charges of criminal association to prepare a terrorist act harming people were filed Friday against the three.

The prosecutor's statement said the suspects, who were arrested Monday, told investigators they planned a late December or early January attack on the Mediterranean military post Fort Bear, where the 23-year-old Djebril A., a former Marine, once worked. The two others, identified as Ismael K., 17, and Antoine F., 19, said the plan was to decapitate the base chief — a plot that Djebril denied.

The three met via the Internet and communicated through an encrypted program.

(KA)