Pre-Olympic Sabotage: French Rail Network Targeted Ahead of Paris Games

Saboteurs attacked France's high-speed train network, causing disruptions on major rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics. The attacks, involving signal box damage and bomb threats, led to widespread travel chaos and heightened security concerns. Authorities are investigating potential culprits, with no immediate claims of responsibility.

Saboteurs struck France's TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks that caused chaos on the country's busiest rail lines and heightened security concerns ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony in Paris later on Friday.

The coordinated sabotage took place as France mounted a massive security operation involving tens of thousands of police and soldiers to safeguard the capital for the sporting extravaganza, sucking in security resources from across the country.

SNCF, the state-owned railway operator, said vandals had damaged signal boxes along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

(With inputs from agencies.)