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PARIS is bracing for more attacks after today’s rail sabotage – with the army, drones, and jets deployed for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
Heavily armed special forces soldiers are patrolling the streets of the French capital and the water of the Seine this evening ahead of the global event.
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A force of 18,000 soldiers and 30,000 cops will be joined by fighter jets, helicopters carrying sharpshooters, and spy drones.
Today’s attack against the rail system came ahead of this evening’s opening ceremony where hundreds of thousands of spectators, athletes, and performers will mark the beginning of the games.
The country’s largest deployment of troops in peacetime aims to keep the 15million visitors and 10,500 Olympic Games competitors safe.
Patrice Vergriete, acting transport minister, said the authorities were “preparing themselves” for more potential attacks.
He described the sabotage against the cables critical for rail signalling as an “outrageous criminal act” .
Vergriete told French TV station TF1: “We are preparing for it [other attacks].
“We had no specific alert before these planned acts of malice and sabotage.
“Today we are on alert, so obviously we have mobilised all security forces, as well as drones, so today we have greatly increased our vigilance.”
France will step up security on the country’s rail network, rail operator SNCF said.
Some services have begun to return and were slowly improving, but there would still be major disruption to many lines.
In a statement, SNCF said: “In coordination with the forces of law and order, surveillance of the network has been stepped up on the ground and in the air, using both human and technical resources.”
Train operators cancelled or delayed trains with travellers told not to go to the station, that left crowded platforms and frustrated passengers.
The Eurostar has cancelled 25 per cent of its trips between Paris and St Pancras today and into next week.
A whopping 800,000 people travellers are set to be affected across the weekend with 250,000 set to be hit today.
AFP
AFP
French media cited sources describing the railway attack as a “coordinated” and “studied sabotage” on strategic points of the network.
It is unknown who carried out the attack yet, but Russia, Iran, and extreme anarchists and leftists have all been suspected.
A security expert has speculated Vladimir Putin could be behind the anarchy, while the Israelis have claimed it is the Iranians.
US intelligence officials have said the culprits could likely be anarchists or extreme leftists, according to NBC.
Seven environmentalists were also arrested today in Bois de Vincennes after they were allegedly caught climbing trees overlooking the cycling time trial track.
The activists were suspected of wanting to target tomorrow’s time trial race , Le Parisien reported.
Increased AI surveillance cameras have already been deployed across Paris to monitor those threats and the millions of visitors expected in the coming weeks.
An influx of additional security cameras are stationed across the city with organisers using AI to scan through the streets to ensure safety and security.
AFP
Pictures of the cables show they had been burnt
Gabriel Attal, the French prime minister, said saboteurs “knew where to hit” and they had “knowledge of the network”.
Attal said: “What we know, what we can see is that this operation has been planned, coordinated, that key points have been targeted which shows a kind of knowledge of the [train] network.
“They knew where to hit. I can’t say more on the culprits and their motives.”
The French interior minister said that athletes were not affected by train cancellations, but reports of two trains stopped with athletes in did emerge.
David Lappartient, the president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, also said he was not aware of disruption impacting athletes.
“Many athletes have already arrived, to my knowledge [there are no] athletes blocked by this.”
A spokesman for rail operator SNCF said it was the victim of “a massive arson attack to paralyse the TGV network”.
He said the disruption should “last at least the whole weekend”, and would have a knock-on effect across the network.
The first blaze was detected early on Friday morning near tracks a Courtalain, in the Eure-et-Loir department.
It caused the interruption of traffic on the hugely busy Atlantique high-speed line.
SNCF said a “malicious act” on the high-speed line between Lille and Paris, in the northern Arras sector.
TGV Inoui and Ouigo trains were diverted to conventional lines, causing cancellations and far longer journey times.
Where did the attacks take place?
The attacks on the high speed rail lines took place at three places across France.
Operator SNCF says the fires were set in pipes that carried crucial cables used for signalling on the rail service.
Saboteurs hit Courtalain on the Atlantic high-speed line; Croisilles on the Northern high-speed line; and Pagny-sur-Moselle on the East high-speed line.
One attack on the Southeast line was stopped by maintenance workers who scared the group of people off, the Ministry of Transport said.
French airport Basel-Mulhouse was evacuated on Friday morning over a bomb threat.
The airport, near the Swiss border, was brought to a halt with “security” concerns plunging the aviation hub into chaos.
On its website, Basel-Mulhouse EuroAirport had said: “For safety reasons, the terminal had to be evacuated and is currently closed.”
But now the airport has reopened and flights are slowly set to resume.
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