French prisons targeted with arson, gunfire: ministry
In recent months Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau have vowed to intensify the fight against narcotics and drug-related crime.
"All this appeared to have been coordinated and is clearly linked to the anti-drug gang strategy" introduced by Darmanin, a source close to the matter told AFP after the incidents recorded overnight to Tuesday.
"The republic is face to face with drug trafficking, and is taking measures that will seriously disrupt criminal networks," Darmanin himself said on X, promising a "firm and courageous" government response.
According to prison staff union FO Justice, "vehicles were torched, prison gates set on fire, and even targeted with heavy guns."
Three vehicles, including two belonging to prison staff, were set on fire in the car park of the Villepinte prison north of Paris, a police source said. A fuel canister was found on site, and CCTV footage showed two individuals torching cars.
Cars parked outside three other prisons, one near Paris and two in southern France, were also set on fire, another police source said.
In a prison in Toulon, on France's southern coast, 15 bullet impacts were found on the front gate following an attack with a "Kalashnikov-type" assault weapon, FO Justice said.
In a prison in nearby Aix, two vehicles were set on fire and the gate of the local ERIS prison surveillance unit was damaged, the union added.
Overnight Sunday to Monday, fires had already been set in the parking lots of a prison staff training centre and a prison near Paris, several sources said.
"These criminal acts are a full-on attack on our institution, on the republic and the staff who serve the republic every day," FO Justice said, calling for a "strong, clear response by the government".
Wilfried Fonck, national secretary for Ufap Unsa Justice, another union, told AFP that the prison system did not have enough staff to secure prison perimeters "24/7".
Anarchist slogans were found at some of the attack sites, and police are keeping all lines of investigation open, a source close to the case said.
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