The French internet was disrupted by saboteurs who cut the fiber-optic cable in several areas. It is the second major act of sabotage against French infrastructure since the Olympic Games began. The first series of attacks was directed at the French high-speed railway service.
According to a French police official, at least six regions are affected, including the area around Marseille, the Mediterranean city that hosts the Olympic sailing and football competitions. Bouygues Telecom, SFR, and Free have confirmed that their services are affected. However, no major problems have been reported yet on Monday. Nicolas Chatin said that the vandalism was committed by SFR, which is one of France’s largest operators. “Large cable sections were cut. He told Agence France Presse (AFP) that you would need an axe or a grinding machine. The group, however, minimized any disruptions by stating that only 10,000 fixed-line subscribers were affected.
It was almost at the same time that a sabotage attempt was launched against the German rail system.
German Transport Minister Volker Wisseing told journalists Saturday afternoon, local time, that it was “clearly” a deliberate act in which vital communication cables were “consciously” and “deliberately” cut in two different locations.
Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national rail operator, stated that due to damage to cables “which are essential for train traffic, Deutsche Bahn was forced to stop train travel in the north today for almost three hours.”
The company said that the incident caused a breakdown in communication between trains, stranding thousands of passengers, at the beginning of the weekend, in Lower Saxony Bremen Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. The company said that traffic had returned by late morning. However, it warned that there would be some disruption.
In connection with railway sabotage, France has arrested an “ultra-leftist activist”.
A police source confirmed Monday that French authorities arrested a member of an ultra-leftist movement on a site owned by the national rail operator SNCF. This comes days after sabotage attempts paralyzed the system at the beginning of the Olympic Games. A source who asked not to be identified said that the man was arrested at Oissel, in northern France, on Sunday. He had keys to SNCF’s technical premises and tools, as well as literature and materials linked to the ultra-left.
It smells like something out of Casablanca, not a police operation.
It doesn’t look like a supervillain’s job to be arrested on a rail line two days after a major sabotage attempt with all the tools, manuals, and access keys necessary to duplicate the previous day’s efforts.
The latest attacks on France’s critical infrastructure like the deactivation of its high-speed rail do not seem to be linked to the Paris Olympics, and no one has claimed responsibility. Most domestic extremists are ruled out by the lack of demand or motive. It’s almost like someone sent a warning to Paris.