French Authority Suspects Left Extremist Group Was Behind Sabotage Of Train Network Last Week

The accumulation of passengers at Paris Gare du Nord Station was due to sabotage. (Wikimedia Commons/GeoMancer48)

JAKARTA - French authorities are leading to the possibility that left-wing extremist groups were behind the sabotage of the SNCF railway network last week, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.

France's high-speed rail network underwent an attack before dawn on signal substations and cables at critical points on Friday, causing chaos of travel hours before the opening ceremony.

"We have identified the profiles of several people," Home Affairs Minister Darmanin told France 2 TV, regarding the hunt for the sabotizers.

The Minister of Home Affairs added that the operating mode of the sabotizers has the characteristics of left extremists, although he did not set an example.

Last week's attack damaged infrastructure along a path linking Paris to cities like Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Meanwhile, another attack on the Paris-Marseille route was thwarted, the SNCF said.

Earlier, two security sources said after the attack, based on its modus operandi, preliminary suspicions led to left-wing militants or environmental activists, but there was no evidence whatsoever.

Overall 800,000 people faced travel disruptions due to the attack, including 100,000 people whose trains had to be canceled, he said, adding the costs state-owned rail operator SNCF would be huge.

Meanwhile, all trains resumed operations on Monday morning after the team worked around the weekend to repair the damage, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete said on RTL radio. This is in line with the predictions of Minister Vergriete and head of train operator SNCF Jean-Pierre Farandou on Saturday.