Four men charged for Paris attacks

Four men were charged with having links to the terrorist strikes in France earlier this month, which killed 20 people, including three gunmen, according to the Paris prosecutor's office, media reported Wednesday.

According to The Independent, Paris Prosecutor, Francois Molins, said that the accused were handed preliminary charges of association with terrorism.

The men, between 22 to 28 years of age, are suspected of providing logistical support to Amedy Coulibaly, one of the gunmen killed by the police during the attacks. They will be held in custody until further investigation.

Three of the four accused had criminal records while at least one had met Coulibaly in prison, Molins said.

He said that authorities in France are working with other countries to search for other possible suspects, and added that investigators were trying to find who was responsible for the posthumous video of Coulibaly, which was edited and released days after he and the Charlie Hebdo gunmen Said and Cherif Kouachi were killed by the police.

In the video, Coulibaly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) jihadi group and spoke on how the attacks were coordinated by the three men.

Sleuths probing the attacks on the office of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a kosher grocery in Paris arrested 12 people Jan 15 and in the early hours of Jan 16.

Nine men and three women were questioned on suspicion of providing logistical support to the attackers, the Interior Ministry had announced.

France is still on the highest alert and has deployed over 120,000 police personnel and soldiers across the country to protect vulnerable buildings such as schools and train stations.