The anti-terrorism office will begin investigating an attack characterized by gunfire and arson.
The French anti-terrorism office has launched an investigation after unknown assailants carried out a wave of attacks on prisons around the country.
Multiple incidents were recorded overnight and Tuesday, with the prison targeting automatic shootings and arson attacks. While no perpetrators of the attack have been identified, officials have noted that they are following the intensive crackdown on drug gang crime, including the record-breaking seizure of cocaine smuggled from South America.
Authorities reported vehicles were burned outside prisons across the country, including near Paris. A prison in a city in southern Toulon has been fired.
An unnamed source told AFP News Agency that the series of attacks “appears to have been coordinated and clearly linked to anti-drug gang strategies.”
The French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said it was in charge of investigating the attack on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said the country’s DGSI National Security Agency would also be involved in the investigation.
“Efforts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons,” Justice Minister Gerald Dalman, who led efforts to strengthen prison safety and crack down on the gangs running the empire from behind bars.
“The French Republic is facing the issue of drug trafficking and is taking steps to significantly disrupt the criminal network,” he wrote to X, adding that he is heading to Toulon to support the officers involved.
Police sources say three vehicles belonging to prison staff were on fire in the parking lot of Billpinte prison north of Paris. A fuel canister was found on the scene, and security camera footage showed two individuals setting the car on fire.
Another police source said vehicles parked outside the three other prisons, two near Paris and two in the southern France, also burned.
The effects of 15 bullets were found at the main gate of the prison in Toulon after being attacked with a “Kalashnikov-type” assault weapon, the prison staff union said it was justice.
Wilfried Fonck, national secretary of UFAP UNSA Justice Union, said the prison system does not have enough staff to ensure prison boundaries.
Home Minister Bruno Reciro said he had directed authorities to quickly increase protections for staff and prisons.
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