Police scour homes of French group in anti-terror action

PARIS – About 200 police officers are searching a dozen homes and the headquarters of an association based outside the port city of Dunkirk in northern France in an anti-terror operation.

The prefecture of France’s northern region said on Tuesday that police are at the Centre Zahra France in Grande-Synthe. Homes of the little-known association’s leaders are also being searched.

A statement said the association has been “particularly followed due to marked support by its leaders for movements advocating ideas contrary to the values of the (French) Republic.”

The small town of Grande-Synthe is known as a magnet for migrants seeking to cross the English Channel to Britain, and as a draw for smuggling activity that often thrives where migrants congregate.