Three men were arrested in the Netherlands on Monday after their DNA is believed to have been found on firearms in a shelter in France connected to the Islamic State (IS), the Dutch public prosecutor announced on Tuesday.

The arrested suspects are a 26-year-old man from Groningen and a 30-year-old man with no permanent residence. The third suspect is a 53-year-old man who was detained in Zaanstad.

Two days after the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium, in March 2016, the police discovered an IS-related apartment in Argenteuil, a suburb of Paris, which was rented by French jihadist Reda Kriket who was arrested. Five Kalashnikovs, small arms, 30 kg of explosives, detonators, false passports, mobile phones and jihadist writings were found in that hiding place.

A second terror suspect, Anis Bahri, was arrested in Rotterdam later that month. In the apartment where he stayed, the police found 45 kg of ammunition and material for Kalashnikovs. He was extradited to France in August 2016.

After these arrests, joint international research by Dutch, French and Belgian police and judiciary services focused on whether the weapons and explosives found came from the Netherlands.

Further investigation of the weapons found in the apartment in Argenteuil gave insight into the DNA traces, a match of which was found in a Dutch DNA database.

The DNA traces were found on the inside of some firearms and also on a sports bag.

There was also a fourth DNA match with a 22-year-old Dutchman. This person has not been arrested in this case yet, but has been detained in Sassenheim because of a violent crime and will be questioned by the police.