Police in France reports three people arrested on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack.

Police in France reports three people  arrested on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack.

According to French media a counter-terrorism operation is under way at the home of one of the suspects, in the central city of Clermont-Ferrand.

The other two arrests were reportedly in Marseille and in the Paris region.

France is on high alert after a series of deadly attacks in recent years by militants claiming to be from the Islamic State group.

Reuters news agency source say that that the suspects were arrested "as part of a preliminary investigation started in January on suspicion of leaving for Syria or committing an act in France".

Another police source quoted in Le Monde said the plot was sufficiently advanced that the French intelligence agency, the DGSI, decided to intervene.

At least 230 people have been killed in jihadist attacks in France Since the beginning of 2015.

Three men and a girl of 16 were found with bomb-making materials by anti-terrorist police in a raid on a flat in the southern city.