Derailed! Rogue Saboteur Attacks French High-Speed Rail Hours Ahead of Paris Olympic Games Opening Ceremony: ‘Nerve Centers Were Targeted’
A rogue arson attack took place on France's high-speed rail system hours before the opening of the Olympic Opening ceremony on the River Seine in Paris.
July 26 2024, Published 2:50 p.m. ET
A coordinated series of arson attacks on France’s TGV high-speed rail system into and out of Paris, severely disrupted traffic and exposed the city to security problems, hours before the Olympic Games opening ceremony.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the attacks took place, despite 45,000 police officers, 18,000 military personnel, 2,000 private security officers and a slew of snipers being deployed to the capital.
Parisians are concerned the games will wreak havoc on the area, complaining about barriers in the city center.
The saboteurs damaged signal substation cables that connect the capital with Lille, Bordeaux and Strasbourg. A second attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, but there were no injuries.
The fires were predominately started in pipes holding the signaling cables.
To date, nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks and authorities have not publicly stated who they think might have been behind them.
However, an intelligence source told CNN that French intelligence services are “fully mobilized” to find those responsible. The source added: “These methods have been used by the far-left in the past” but “there is no evidence to tie today’s actions to them.”
Prosecutors have already opened a criminal investigation. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, said a formal investigation also had been launched into “deliberate damage of property likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation,’’ the Guardian reported.
Some 45,000 police officers and 18,000 military personnel have been deployed across Paris for the Olympic Games.
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Following the incident, Caretaker Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said: “What we know, what we see, is that this operation was prepared, coordinated, that nerve centers were targeted, which shows a certain knowledge of the network to know where to strike."
Paris transport system head Jean Castex ordered an “increased level of vigilance” across the city’s rail network, the Washington Post reported. He added: “We are deploying on all terrains…on the sensitive sites of our networks.”
IAC Chairman Barry Diller spoke with CNBC’s Squawk Box host Andrew Ross in the outlet’s Paris studios after the attack.
Said Diller: “The Olympics is this brotherhood of friendliness and sport, and all good things and we’re doing it literally in an armed camp. You cannot go outside and not hear constant sirens…It’s weird in this city that is usually joyous and peaceful.”
The opening ceremony nonetheless occurred as planned, beginning along the River Seine. Police called on locals to park their cars by 10 a.m. and stay home from 3 p.m. unless they have a pass to watch the ceremony on the river.
The city already called for anti-terror police to be placed along the riverbank and in boats along the Seine, along with snipers on rooftops.
Helicopter patrols and specialist units are being used to prevent drones, and the entire city has become a no-fly zone.
In addition, four airports have been temporarily closed, including the heavily trafficked Charles de Gaulle.
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