A jihadist plot was foiled last week in the French region of Orleans, southwest of Paris, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve revealed Tuesday.

"A planned attack targeting representatives of state forces in the Orleans region was foiled last week by the DGSI (France's internal intelligence agency)," Cazeneuve said, according to the AFP news agency.

Two French citizens aged 20 and 24 were arrested on December 19, he said. The older has a police record for petty crime.

A police source told AFP that one was originally from Morocco and the other from Togo.

They were "in contact with a French jihadist in Syria and the investigation ought to establish if he ordered the attacks that one of the two arrested men has admitted they were planning to carry out against soldiers, police and representatives of the state," Cazeneuve was quoted as having said.

"These arrests are the result of meticulous work by our intelligence services and bring the number of attacks foiled on the national territory since 2013 to 10," he added.

Cazeneuve also said that 3,414 people had been turned away from France's borders since a state of emergency was introduced in the wake of last month's attacks in Paris, which left 130 people dead.

They were refused entry "due to the risk they present to security and public order," said the French Interior Minister.

More than 3,000 raids have taken place since the Paris attacks, leading to 360 house arrests and 51 people jailed.

A manhunt continues in Europe for a key suspect in the Paris attacks, 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam. It has been speculated that he fled from Belgium to Germany.

AFP contributed to this report.