Militant far-left activists could have been behind the sabotaging of France’s high-speed rail, interior minister Gérald Darmanin has said.
One individual allegedly linked to them has reportedly been arrested in relation to the attack on July 26, which saw large swathes of the country’s TGV network paralysed ahead of the Olympic Games opening ceremony.
“We have identified the profiles of several people who could have committed the acts of sabotage during the night of Thursday to Friday against SNCF TGV lines,” the senior minister told journalists.
The attack, he added, also matched the usual “mode of action of the ultra-left”, he added.
Darmanin’s claims have been echoed by police authorities in the country, who have described the single individual arrested in relation to the attack as operating within the hard-left ecosystem.
The person was reportedly detained on July 28, with officers discovering “cutting pliers”, “wrenches” and “access keys to SNCF technical premises” in his vehicle.
Just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in France, the TGV network, the country’s intercity high-speed rail service, has apparently been deliberately targeted. https://t.co/Wjbp5GmJCP
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 26, 2024
According to Darmanin, the main question now was whether the left-wing extremists involved in the attack were working alone.
“The question is whether they were manipulated or is it for their own benefit,” he said.
Multiple media outlets in the country are reporting similar attacks on telecommunications networks across the country.
Long-distance Fibre cabling in multiple regions was said to have been cut in the early hours of July 29, with the attack said to have had an impact on 4G and 5G services in various areas.
“These acts of vandalism have consequences for the main operators and dozens of local, professional and hosting operators,” Nicolas Guillaume, the president of network operator Netalis, said regarding the incident.
He compared the impact to that of an attack in 2022, during which an unknown group cut cabling belonging to telecommunications companies Free and SFR.
As of writing, Paris — and the Games more generally — do not appear to have been significantly impacted by the attack.
Gérald Darmanin, the country’s outgoing interior minister, has insisted that the sportsmen and women will receive 24-hour police protection after members of the French Socialist New Popular Front (NFP) demanded Israel’s exclusion from the competition.https://t.co/TNXiey0Dcv
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 22, 2024
