A number of fiber optic networks have been “sabotaged” across France — just days after arson attacks paralyzed high-speed train services during the Olympics opening ceremony, according to reports.
Cables for several telecom operators were purposely cut in six areas of France earlier Monday, police told the French outlet Agence France Presse.
However, Paris has not been affected by the sabotage.
The cables in electrical cabinets belonging to operators SFR and Bouygues had been cut in southern France, and installations in the Meuse region near Luxembourg and the Oise area near Paris had been vandalized, according to the French paper Le Parisien.
The vandalism is mainly affecting fixed-line services and not mobile devices.
There has so far been no claim of responsibility for the recent attack on the country’s infrastructure.
The incident comes just three days after “coordinated” acts crippled high-speed train services on three major lines connecting Paris with Lille, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg.
A fourth attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled by night-shift workers.
The high-speed train disruption ruined travel for at least 250,000 passengers on Friday, including those coming from other parts of Europe, such as the UK, on the Eurostar.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said France’s intelligence services have been mobilized to find the perpetrators of the “acts of sabotage” which he described as “prepared and coordinated.”
They had “a clear objective: blocking the high-speed train network” ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, Attal said,
“Playing against the Games is playing against France, against your own camp, against your country,” Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera said of the attacks.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin shared on Monday that “several people” have been identified as being part of the train sabotage and are suspected to be linked to far-left French anarchists.
The attacks on the high-speed train lines were “deliberate, very precise, extremely well-targeted,” Darmanin said, according to France 24.
“This is the traditional type of action of the ultra-left.”
While Darmanin believes the group was involved with the far-left radicals, he said they “must be cautious” before naming any of the suspects.
“These are people who may be close to this movement,” Darmanin explained.
He added that the government is still investigating whether “they were manipulated” or acted “for their own benefit.”
As of Monday morning, all train lines targeted in the attacks were up and running.
