Two Syrians arrested in Geneva with traces of explosives in car

GENEVA — Two men of Syrian origin were arrested Friday in Geneva with traces of explosives in their car, Swiss public television said, as the city remained on high alert due to an increased jihadist threat.

A police operation was underway on a road leading to the French border, RTS television reported.

Police refused to say whether the arrests were linked to the four suspected jihadists who have been sought in Geneva since Wednesday as a result of information provided by a foreign intelligence agency.

The four men, whose photographs are being shown on Swiss media, are accused of links to the Islamic State group.

The Geneva region raised its alert level to three on a five-point scale on Thursday, and armed police have been deployed at sensitive locations across the western city, which is home to the UN’s European headquarters.

The Tribune de Geneve newspaper, in an unconfirmed report, said the intelligence originally came from the United States.

“We went from a vague threat to a specific threat,” Geneva security spokeswoman Emmanuelle Lo Verso said, adding that police were “actively searching” for the suspects.

The office of Switzerland’s top prosecutor said in a statement it had opened a probe into “a terrorist threat in the Geneva region,” targeting unnamed individuals over possible support for banned groups, including “Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.”

The statement said the probe was opened on Wednesday and that federal authorities were coordinating with their Geneva counterparts.

“The main goal is to prevent a terrorist event,” it added.