Paris Olympics: are far-Left and anarchist groups behind French rail sabotage?

Just hours ahead of the Paris Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on the 26th of July, parts of its high-speed rail network were left paralysed, affecting more than 800,000 passengers.

Then on the 28th of July, France's telecoms network suffered isolated outages, affecting mobile and internet services.

Though it might be perceived as mere isolated incidents, there was every intention to create chaos and anarchy ahead of the marquee event.

While France has largely been targeted by Islamist extremists in the past, the senior authorities believe that this time, the far-left extremists might have been behind these incidents.

Four days after the attack, France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin suggested that members of far-left or ultra-left groups were behind the sabotage of the high-speed rail network last week.

"The attacks were deliberate, very precise, extremely well-targeted...This is the traditional type of action of the ultra-left," Darmanin told France 2 TV.

With regards to the telecom outage, a police source involved in the probe told Reuters news agency that it "was too soon to tell" if there was a link with acts of vandalism.

So far, there has been no public claim of responsibility but several media outlets received messages in support of the attacks on the 27th of July.

Several media outlets reported on the 29th of July that a far-left activist had been arrested in Normandy.

The suspect was said to have had keys to the railway authority premises, cutting pliers, and a set of universal keys in his vehicle, as well as “literature related to the far left”.

Security services have been increasingly concerned about far-left or anarchist groups, which typically oppose the state and capitalism.

The concerns expressed by security services have also been well documented. According to a European Commission report, there has been a rise in left-wing extremism and anarchist attacks across the European Union since 2006.

Till 2020, there have been more than 400 reported incidents of left-wing attacks.

While Germany, Italy, Spain, and Greece have been the worst victims of left extremism, of late, France has also been seeing an uptick in such cases.

A 2023 report by European police agency Europol has described left-wing and anarchist extremists as those who take advantage of lawful demonstrations to launch violent attacks against governmental property and law enforcement.

These groups typically attach "critical infrastructure, such as repeaters and antennas, government institutions and private companies" with their "most common modus operandi" being arson and explosive devices.

In response to these incidents, the French authorities have further tightened security. Interior Minister Darmanin said that 50 drones, 250 rail security agents, and 1,000 maintenance workers have been deployed to tighten security along the 28,000-kilometer high-speed train network.