Police arrested 48 people Wednesday in raids ordered by the judge investigating bombings that killed seven people and wounded 100 this summer, the French Interior Ministry reported.
Thirty suspected arms and document traffickers were arrested in the southern port city of Marseille, and 15 Muslim militants from Algeria were arrested in Carpentras, a Provence town 60 miles to the north.
In the most dramatic confrontation, however, three Muslims were arrested after a gunbattle in Lyon. A fourth suspect escaped.
Police would not say whether the raids in Marseille were directed against Muslim militants.
Officials believe the most likely suspects in the four bombings and two failed ones are Algerian extremists angered by France’s support of the military-installed government in Algeria.
