French police arrest 10 suspected Islamic militants in a series of dawn raids across the country.<br/> <br />The operation follows Friday's arrest of 19 suspects, and comes almost two weeks after police snipers shot dead 23-year-old gunman Mohamed Merah.<br/> <br />Merah had killed seven people in the Toulouse region, including three Jewish school children.<br/> <br />That spate of killings prompted French President Nicolas Sarkozy to order a security clampdown.<br/> <br />The raids, carried out by France's domestic intelligence service and special elite forces, took place in various locations including Marseille, Valence and Roubaix.<br/> <br />A local police source said those arrested had a similar profile to Merah.<br/> <br />Police tracked the suspects on Islamist forums expressing militant views and said they were preparing to travel to areas including Pakistan and Afghanistan to wage jihad.<br/> <br />Wednesday's raids though were not directly linked to the Merah attacks.<br/> <br />Sarkozy - who faces an uphill task to win re-election in the upcoming April 22nd election - has vowed to root out militancy in the wake of the Toulouse killing spree.<br/> <br />Simon Hanna, Reuters.
