Olympics Vandalism Strikes Again, Hits Telecommunications Lines in France Reports

August 2024 · 4 minute read

Vandals have once again struck the Olympic Games in Paris.

According to French newspaper Le Monde, police said “several” telecommunications operators have had their fibreoptic networks sabotaged in six areas of France, although Paris has not been affected. No other details were immediately available as to the effect of the vandalism.

The news comes just days after vandals carried out “malicious acts” on trainlines across France on the day of the opening ceremony, creating havoc for those travelling by rail to Paris for the start of the games. Among those affected was British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had planned to catch a Eurostar train from London to Paris. He pivoted to air travel instead in order to make it across the Channel in time for the opening ceremony.

Culprits for the train sabotage have not yet been identified, although according to Le Monde France’s interior minister Gerald Darmanin increasingly thinks “ultra-left wing movements” might be responsible. Russian proxies were originally thought to have ben involved. Darmanin reportedly told France 2 television the “attacks were intentional, very precise, extremely well targeted.”

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Le Monde reports one man has so far been arrested in connection with the sabotage. Trains are now running as normal across France after railway engineers spent the weekend working on repairs. The cost reportedly runs into the millions of Euros.

More to come…

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