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France presumes leftists in rail attacks as telecoms networks hit

Vandals screwed up France's. telecoms networks overnight, piling pressure on French security. services trying to protect the Olympics after authorities said. they believed leftwing groups of attacking railway ahead of. the opening ceremony in Paris.

The cuts to far away telecoms cables at 5 websites. early on Monday appear like sabotage, Romain Bonenfant, basic. director of the French Telecoms Federation, told .

It was an operation that was prepared. If it wasn't. people who work for (us), it was individuals who had information.

Police have yet to apprehend anyone for Friday's attacks on. high-speed rail lines with explosive gadgets, but Interior. Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday authorities presumed. members of far-left militant groups due to the nature of the. sabotage.

We have actually recognized the profiles of a number of people,. Darmanin informed France 2 TELEVISION.

Paris authorities chief Laurent Nunez declined to state whether. there was any link in between the telecoms and rail attacks.

There is a method operandi in that first attack that makes. you think of the far-left, he informed press reporters.

However, like the rail attacks examination, the Paris. prosecutors office stated the telecoms probe would be supervised by. its organised criminal activity workplace, with the anti-terrorist. sub-directorate (SDAT), a branch of the judicial police that. usually monitors far-left, far-right and radical environmental. groups, collaborating investigations.

French telecoms regulator Arcep said the sabotage of telecom. networks affected 11,000 people, generally clients of the SFR and. Free services.

A spokesperson for SFR stated the effect was very little because. the network was created to reroute traffic. Free stated some of. its services had been affected by a multi-operator network. event in six various departments throughout France.

Because 2.15 a.m. our national network is experiencing. considerable slowdown, Free said on X. All our services are. provided, often with a deterioration in quality of service.

LEFTISTS THOUGHT

In the last few years, France has mainly been targeted in attacks. by Islamist militants, however security services have been. progressively concerned about far-left or anarchist groups, which. typically oppose the state and industrialism.

The then-head of France's domestic intelligence firm,. Nicolas Lerner, told Le Monde paper in 2015 President. Emmanuel Macron's dissentious 2023 pension shake-up had actually helped lure. employees to far-left groups, which have increasingly included. environmental problems to their ideologies.

In the last few years, the far-left movements have actually been known for. especially violent private actions, consisting of arson. projects ... raiding and damage of home, Lerner,. who now leads the foreign spy agency, stated in the interview.

In a 2023 report on terrorism trends, European police company. Europol said left-wing and anarchist groups typically attacked. important facilities, such as repeaters and antennas,. federal government institutions and personal companies with their a lot of. common method operandi being arson and explosive gadgets.

Train services in France were back up and running by. early Monday after teams worked all the time at the weekend. to repair the damage, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete informed RTL. radio.

He stated 800,000 people had dealt with travel disruptions and stated. the cost to the state-owned rail operator SNCF would be. substantial.

(source: Reuters)