Damaged cables line near Courtalain near the site where vandals targeted France’s high-speed train network (Picture: Reuters)

Another case of ‘sabotage’ has been reported across France in the first week of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Fibre optic cables have been damaged in several parts of the country in a series of coordinated overnight attacks.

Telecom installations belonging to French companies SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free have been affected.

It is understood that infrastructure in the south of France, the Meuse region near Luxembourg and the Oise area near Paris had been vandalised.

Over the last 24 hours, SFR recorded at least 76 mobile outages and 482 internet outages on its fixed network throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Free confirmed to Le Parisien newspaper – without giving the causes of the problem – that a ‘multi-operator network incident is underway’ and ‘some services may be disrupted’.

It added: ‘All our teams are currently mobilized to restore the situation.’

At the stage, the Olympics are not affected by the attack, which is currently under investigation.

⚠#PANNE SFR EN COURS⚠
📡28 signalements de problème #Internet dont 25 sur le réseau #fibre de #SFR depuis 10h46
🌍Villes concernées : Paris (75015), Paris (75016)
⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/ZY9zbEyHZL

— Pannes Internet et Mobile (@zoneadsl_panne) July 27, 2024

Authorities are yet to comment on speculation about who is behind the vandalism in France.

This comes after vandals targeted the high-speed rail network on Friday with pre-dawn attacks on signal substations and cables, disrupting travel for 800,000 people before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.

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

The man – who has not yet been identified – was intercepted by police in Oissel, just south of Rouen on Sunday, and on Monday was in custody.

It is the first publicly announced arrest made since the sabotage, which affected rail services all weekend.

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.

Sign Up for News Updates

Get your need-to-know latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more

Privacy Policy

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.