France to investigate dozens of mosques suspected of 'separatism'

FILE PHOTO: French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin speaks in Paris, France, October 15, 2020. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - France will on Thursday start investigating dozens of mosques suspected of fomenting Islamist ideology to combat the rising threat of religious extremism, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

The government has launched what it calls an unprecedented action against "separatism" following several Islamist attacks in France this autumn, including the beheading of a teacher who had shown his class caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.