Telecoms installations vandalised in France: Reports

Telecom installations belonging to French companies SFR and Bouygues Telecom have been vandalised, reported Le Parisien newspaper and BFM TV on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

SFR and Bouygues did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The reports said cables in electrical cabinets had been cut in southern France, and that installations in the Meuse region near Luxembourg and the Oise area near Paris had been vandalised, affecting mainly fixed-line services.

Saboteurs targeted France’s high-speed rail network on Friday with pre-dawn attacks on signal substations and cables, causing travel chaos hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that one far-left extremist had been arrested on Sunday in relation with the case.

Traffic only returned to normal Monday morning but only after some 800,000 people faced disruptions, including 100,000 people whose trains had to be cancelled outright.

The reports by Le Parisien and BFM TV did not state if there were any links between the vandalism on the telecoms installations, and that earlier sabotage on the rail network.