Attackers targeted France’s TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn strikes, causing congestion on the main rail lines and raising security worries ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday, Reuters said.
The concerted sabotage occurred as France launched a vast security operation involving tens of thousands of police and troops to protect the city, drawing security resources from throughout the country.
SNCF, the state-owned railway operator, said vandals had damaged signal boxes along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled.
No one immediately claimed responsibility. According to two security sources, the modus operandi led to first suspicions of communist militants or environmental activists, although there is no evidence yet.
When asked in a TV interview if such organizations were behind the sabotage, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal declined to guess.
In another incident, authorities said that the Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport, on the Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport, was evacuated due to a bomb threat. The airport eventually reopened and began operations, according to its statement.
The synchronized attacks on the train network will heighten fears ahead of the Olympics’ opening ceremony in the heart of Paris later on Friday.
More than 300,000 people are expected to line the banks of the River Seine to see the athletes walk through the center of Paris on a flotilla of barges and riverboats as part of a spectacular opening ceremony broadcast across the world.