Trio charged over Strasbourg market attack

French authorities have charged three people with terrorist conspiracy and weapons offenses over their role in the attack on the Strasbourg Christmas market in December.

The men — aged 32, 34 and 78 — were indicted by an examining magistrate in Paris and remanded in custody pending trial, according to a judicial source. All three men are members of the same family, according to French officials. Two other members of the family were also detained with the trio but released soon after.

Cherif Chekatt killed five people and wounded 11 others when he opened fire on the open-air market in the northeastern French city on December 11. 

The 29-year-old, a known petty criminal who was also on an extremist watch list, was shot dead by police after a two-day manhunt. Following the attack, investigators found a video in which Chekatt pledged allegiance to "Islamic State" (IS). 

Read more: Strasbourg terror suspect shot dead by police

Suspected accomplices

Police allege the three men held in detention supplied the attacker with the 8mm revolver used in the shooting.

The three were arrested on Tuesday in eastern France before being transferred to the counterterrorism bureau in Paris. Two other suspects seized at the same time were released without charge on Wednesday.

Read more: Strasbourg Christmas market reopens 'for honor of France'

France has been on high alert following a string of terror attacks that have killed more than 250 people in recent years.

nm/jlw (AFP, dpa)

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