French authorities have detained two men on suspicion of plotting an imminent attack.<br /><br /> The arrests were made in the southern city of Marseille, just five days before the first round of the presidential election.<br /><br /> France’s DGSI domestic intelligence agency reportedly suspects the pair of planning an attack to coincide with Sunday’s ballot (April 23).<br /><br /> Both men are believed to have been radicalised in prison.<br /><br /> Reports suggest guns and material for making explosives have been found in a city centre flat during the course of the investigation.<br /><br /> Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said a definite attack had been headed off.<br /><br /> “These two radicalised French nationals, born in 1987 and 1993, intended to commit in the very short-term – and by that I mean in the coming days – an attack on French soil,” Fekl told a press conference.<br /><br /> More than 230 people have been killed in Islamist attacks in France over the last two years, pushing President François Hollande to declare France a nationwide state of emergency. National security has been high on candidates’ agendas in the run-up to the first-round vote.<br />
