AbdulQadir7
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Overnight, at least eight prisons across France came under coordinated attacks involving gunfire and arson, in what officials describe as a direct retaliation from drug trafficking networks against the government’s intensified anti-narcotics crackdown. The assaults targeted facilities in cities including Toulon, Marseille, Nanterre, Valence, Aix-en-Provence, Nîmes, Luynes, and Villepinte. The prison in Toulon was the most severely hit, with automatic weapons fired at its entrance, leaving bullet holes and shell casings, while vehicles were set ablaze in the parking lots of several other prisons. In Marseille, attackers also targeted a residential building housing prison guards, torching cars and spray-painting messages linked to prisoner rights advocacy.
French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed the attacks and described them as intimidation attempts aimed at prison personnel. He announced plans to visit Toulon to support the affected officers and emphasized that the French Republic is confronting drug trafficking with measures designed to significantly disrupt criminal networks. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau called for immediate reinforcement of security at prisons and demanded a relentless state response, stating that those who attack prisons and officers deserve to be incarcerated and monitored by those same officers.
The attacks are widely believed to be orchestrated by organized crime groups angered by the government’s new anti-drug policies, which include the establishment of high-security prison neighborhoods specifically targeting the most dangerous drug traffickers, these measures, inspired by Italy’s anti-mafia “carcere duro” system, impose stringent restrictions on inmates to sever their control over criminal networks from behind bars, the legislation, championed by Darmanin, aims to isolate around 600 to 900 high-risk individuals and has faced criticism from civil rights groups concerned about human rights and the potential for abuse.
Prison guards’ unions have expressed deep concern and outrage over the severity of the attacks, calling for a strong and immediate government response to protect staff and facilities, authorities are investigating the possibility that inmates in high-security units coordinated the assaults and probes have been opened in each affected region, while no group has officially claimed responsibility, the pattern and timing strongly suggest a message from the narco underworld pushing back against the crackdown.
As the government steps up measures to dismantle drug trafficking enterprises that have contributed to an increase in gang violence and cocaine related deaths this wave of violence highlights the growing tensions between French authorities and organized crime, prisons become conflict hotspots as a result of the attacks, which highlight the extent to which criminal networks would go in order to withstand disruption and preserve their power.
French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed the attacks and described them as intimidation attempts aimed at prison personnel. He announced plans to visit Toulon to support the affected officers and emphasized that the French Republic is confronting drug trafficking with measures designed to significantly disrupt criminal networks. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau called for immediate reinforcement of security at prisons and demanded a relentless state response, stating that those who attack prisons and officers deserve to be incarcerated and monitored by those same officers.
The attacks are widely believed to be orchestrated by organized crime groups angered by the government’s new anti-drug policies, which include the establishment of high-security prison neighborhoods specifically targeting the most dangerous drug traffickers, these measures, inspired by Italy’s anti-mafia “carcere duro” system, impose stringent restrictions on inmates to sever their control over criminal networks from behind bars, the legislation, championed by Darmanin, aims to isolate around 600 to 900 high-risk individuals and has faced criticism from civil rights groups concerned about human rights and the potential for abuse.
Prison guards’ unions have expressed deep concern and outrage over the severity of the attacks, calling for a strong and immediate government response to protect staff and facilities, authorities are investigating the possibility that inmates in high-security units coordinated the assaults and probes have been opened in each affected region, while no group has officially claimed responsibility, the pattern and timing strongly suggest a message from the narco underworld pushing back against the crackdown.
As the government steps up measures to dismantle drug trafficking enterprises that have contributed to an increase in gang violence and cocaine related deaths this wave of violence highlights the growing tensions between French authorities and organized crime, prisons become conflict hotspots as a result of the attacks, which highlight the extent to which criminal networks would go in order to withstand disruption and preserve their power.
