UPDATED: France’s meticulous high-level security operation around the Paris 2024 Olympics, which officially kick-off on Friday, has been thrown a curve ball by a rogue attack on France’s rail networks.
French railway company SNCF announced early Friday morning that its infrastructure had been targeted overnight by “a massive attack aimed at paralyzing the network”.
Per details reported by France Info, electrical and signal installations on high-speed lines running north, east and west out of Paris boxes were deliberately set on fire in the early hours of Friday morning. An attempt to sabotage a south-west line connecting Paris with France’s second city of Lyon was foiled.
The attacks are particularly impactful because of the centralized nature of France’s rail network, with most major lines running into the French capital.
No individual or organisation has laid claim to the acts of sabotage, which came just hours before France’s high-stakes Olympics opening ceremony on the River Seine.
Around 45,000 police officers, 20,000 private security agents 18,000 military personnel are currently in place in Paris as part of an extensive security operation for the opening ceremony, to ensure the safety of the participating athletes, performers and spectators, who include 100 heads of state and government, or their representatives.
France’s Acting Minister of Transport Patrice Vergriete said there was clear evidence the fires were deliberate acts of sabotage, especially given their timing ahead of the opening ceremony.
Acting Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra described the attack as “truly appalling”, condemning it as a “malicious act” but insisted the games would not be sent off course.
For now, there has been no official government comment on suspected culprits.
A number of intelligence and security experts have pointed the finger at Russia, which has not been invited to the games in an official capacity this year due to its war on Ukraine.
“A Russian operation is a reasonable hypothesis,” criminology professor Alain Bauer told newspaper l’Opinion.
Investigative website Mediapart also suggested that local elements, citing one anonymous intelligence sources as saying it could be the work of extreme-left militant activists.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office said it had opened an investigation into the “deliberate damage” framing the vandalism as an act “likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation”.
The sites of the vandalism were in out of city locations such as the small town of Croisilles in the northern department of Pas-de-Calais, not subject to high-level security surveillance.
The SNCF asked travellers to postpone their journeys, saying its teams were already at the sites of the damage, but that repairs would be not be completed until the weekend.
Some 250,000 travelers were expected to be impacted on Friday, which was gearing up to be a big travel day in and out of Paris due to the opening ceremony as well as the peak summer vacation season.
The SNCF suggested 800,000 people could be affected overall.
The Eurostar, connecting London and Paris, has also been disrupted, with the operator advising people to rebook their travel.
Britain’s Ambassador to France Menna Rawlings revealed in a bash celebrating Team GB this week that more than 500,000 Olympic tickets have been bought out of the UK, with the country set to be biggest attendee of the games running July 26 to August 11, after France.
