Paris [France], April 16: Several prisons in France were targeted with arson attacks and gunfire overnight, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday.
The detention centres have reportedly become targets of intimidation attempts, ranging from cars set on fire to shots fired with automatic weapons.
Darmanin planned to visit the affected prison in Toulon in southern France in the afternoon. There were no reports of injuries.
The minister views the attacks as a coordinated response from organized drug crime, against which France has declared a fight on various fronts.
Prisons in Marseille, Valence, Aix-en-Provence, Nîmes, Nanterre and Villepinte were also affected by the attacks, the newspaper Le Parisien reported citing the Justice Ministry.
The anti-terrorism prosecutor's office has reportedly been tasked with the investigation.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau described the incidents as "unacceptable attacks on the staff and property of the penal authorities." Several cars belonging to pupils of the training academy for judicial employees in Agen were set on fire for the second time on Monday night.
The justice minister recently announced the construction of a high-security prison where all convicted serious drug criminals in France are to be housed.
This is intended to put an end to the practice of serious criminals having access to mobile phones behind bars despite the ban, allowing them to continue coordinating their operations, including contract killings, from their cells.
Source: Qatar Tribune
