French landline and railway sabotage disrupts critical services
As reported by the French newspaper "Le Parisien," cables in electrical cabinets were cut in six country departments, affecting landline telephone systems. At this stage, there is no impact on the organization of the Olympic Games in Paris.
1:24 PM EDT, July 29, 2024
According to "Le Parisien," cables were cut in Hérault, Bouches-du-Rhône, Oise, Meuse, Drôme, and Aude electrical cabinets.
"Our information indicates that these acts of vandalism affected the landline connections overnight rather than cellular lines. So far, no complaints have been reported, and we do not yet know the number of people affected," the report reads.
In the last 24 hours, the SFR network recorded 67 interruptions in mobile services and 464 interruptions in Internet access on the landline network across the country.
Attack on French railways
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday that "a certain number of profiles (people)" were identified as those who may have been responsible for acts of sabotage on high-speed TGV railway lines last Friday. He recalled that the extreme left had operated similarly in the past.
"This is a traditional way of operating for the extreme left," Darmanin said on the public television channel France 2. When asked whether the identified "profiles" come from that circle, he said that "one should be cautious" in this matter.
He also said it should be determined whether the perpetrators were "manipulated" or acted in their own interests. At the same time, Darmanin admitted that these people "may be close to this movement (the extreme left - PAP)."
French Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said on Monday on RTL radio that train service has been fully restored.
Three fires near tracks
On Friday before dawn, three fires were reported near tracks on high-speed lines. The fires were set in places where critical signal cables were located. Signal substations and cables connecting Paris with Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west, and Strasbourg in the east were damaged. An attack on the Paris-Marseille line was thwarted.
No one has claimed responsibility for the sabotage. The Paris prosecutor's office stated that the investigation would be overseen by its organized crime office in cooperation with the anti-terrorism division.
