Fibre optic cables targeted in new infrastructure attack in France

Paris: France was on Monday probing the possible involvement of ultra left movements in attacks that paralysed the rail network at the start of the Ol...

Paris: France was on Monday probing the possible involvement of ultra-left movements in attacks that paralysed the rail network at the start of the Olympic Games, as new sabotage acts affected fibre optic cables in several areas.

With the government vigilant over the risk of more such attacks during the Games, French authorities on Sunday arrested an activist from an ultra-left movement at a site belonging to national rail operator SNCF.

Police said the cables of several telecoms operators had been sabotaged in six areas of France overnight from Sunday into Monday but Paris was not affected.

AFP confirmed with major carriers including Free and SFR that they had been affected, although no major disruptions had yet been reported.

"It's vandalism," said Nicolas Chatin, spokesman for SFR, one of France's four biggest operators.