Paris train station closed due to bomb threat; 12 held in France in terror raids

Paris: Days after France was left shocked by Islamist attacks that killed 17 people, a bomb threat on Friday led to the closure and evacuation of the Gare de l'Est train station in Paris.

A police official says the station was closed "as a precaution”. The official, who was not authorised to be publicly named, would not give further details.

The train station was evacuated at 8:00 am local time (0700 GMT) after an alert but reopened about an hour later, the SNCF state railway said, without giving further details.

The Gare de l'Est is one of several major train stations in Paris, serving cities in eastern Paris and countries to the east.

The threat came hours after the French authorities detained 12 people overnight in the suburbs of Paris, a judicial source said today, in connection with last week`s Islamist attacks.

The nine men and three women were to be questioned about "possible logistic support" they may have given to the gunmen, in particular weapons and vehicles, the source said.

Raids were still taking place in Montrouge just outside Paris, where gunman Amedy Coulibaly killed a policewoman last week, Grigny where he grew up, Fleury-Merogis south of the French capital and Epinay-sur-Seine north of the city.

According to a police source, investigators have followed several people over the past few days that had been pinpointed thanks to probes on people in the alleged entourage of the Kouachi brothers, who waged the Charlie Hebdo attack, and Coulibaly, who killed a policewoman and four Jews in a supermarket.

Among other things, they are looking for the car of Hayat Boumeddiene, Coulibaly`s wanted partner who is now believed to be in Syria.

(With Agency inputs)