What is known

Romain Bonefant, director general of the French Telecommunications Federation, says that “this was a prepared operation”. He is convinced that the culpability of the crime lies either with the person working in the field or with the person who had the information. Because the perpetrators knew very well what had to be done and in which places.

French regulators say outages only affect 11,000 peoplebecause the network is designed to redirect traffic.

The attack occurred during the Olympics and follows a similar attack on France’s high-speed rail system on the eve of the Olympics’ opening ceremony, in which someone set fire to three electrical and signal boxes controlling different sections of the country’s high-speed rail network. Previous reports have said French authorities have prevented similar attacks, but the attacks affected 800,000 rail users.

It is not clear whether the attacks on the railway line and the telephone system are connected, as French law enforcement has declined to comment on each case. Both attacks are understood to be under investigation by France’s organised crime department and its special counter-terrorism unit.

Who could be behind this?

Law enforcement officials can’t say who they think is behind the attacks, but politicians don’t have the same problem:

We profiled a lot of people. This is the traditional way that far-left groups operate.
– said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanen.

As Reuters writes, France has been the target of attacks mostly by Islamist militants in recent years, but Security services increasingly interested in far-left or anarchist groupsGenerally those who oppose the state and capitalism. France’s domestic intelligence chief, Nicolas Lerner, has previously said that President Macron’s divisive pension reform has helped attract new members to left-wing groups that are increasingly incorporating environmental issues into their ideology.

In recent years, far-left movements have become known for their particularly violent underground activities, including campaigns of arson, looting and destruction of property.
– said Lerner, who is currently head of intelligence.

In its report on terrorism trends 2023, European police agency Europol said left-wing and anarchist groups tend to attack “critical infrastructure such as repeaters and antennas, public institutions and private companies”, with “the most common methods of operation” being arson and explosive devices.

As news of the telecommunications attacks emerged, French law enforcement announced the arrest of a suspect linked to the train sabotage. The man was found in possession of pliers, keys to railway equipment and “far-left political literature”, according to AFP.