Seven of the nine suspects aged between 19 and 54, all Turkish nationals, were remanded in custody after they were charged during a brief court appearance in Paris late Tuesday.

The nine, including a 25-year-old woman, were arrested Friday during police raids in the southern cities of Marseille, Montpellier, Draguignan and Grenoble, said the official, who asked not to be named.

They have been charged with taking part in a terrorist enterprise, financing of terrorist activities and violation of gun laws.

The raids were part of an investigation launched in 2008 into activities in France linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an independent Kurdish homeland for more than two decades.

French anti-terrorist police suspect the group had been recruiting and training young members at sites in France, including one training camp discovered north of Montpellier last year.

Police also suspect links with Kurdish groups in Germany, Belgium and Italy.

Considered a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States, the PKK took up arms against Ankara in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.