French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on late Tuesday that the attacks on prisons were “terrorist attacks” as the country faced a wave of attacks on prison facilities.
“The opening of an investigation by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office is welcome. These are clearly terrorist attacks,” Darmanin said after “coordinated” incidents of arson and shooting at several prisons.
In the latest incident, three cars were set on fire early Wednesday morning in the staff car park of a detention centre in Tarascon in southern France, police sources cited by BFMTV said.
The fire broke out at around 5.20 a.m. local time (0320GMT) in a fenced area reserved for prison staff and protected by a digital code, Tarascon prosecutor Laurent Gumbau said. No slogans or messages were found at the scene, he also added.
A fire was also reported in the lobby of a residential building where a prison officer lives in the Meaux-Chauconin-Neufmontiers in Seine-et-Marne.
On the wall was found the inscription “DDPF,” which stands for the group “Defence of French Prisoners.” The group has previously claimed responsibility for similar attacks on French correctional facilities via social media.
“These are clearly people trying to intimidate the State,” Darmanin told CNews.
“They are doing this because we are taking strong measures against the leniency that may have prevailed in the prison system,” he said.
He pointed to ongoing criminal activity organised from inside French prisons, including drug trafficking, contract killings, money laundering and threats against police and judicial officials, as justification for the recent reforms.
“Terrorist attacks” on prisons
On the night of April 15, unknown assailants opened fire on the Toulon facility with automatic weapons, while cars were blazing at the gates of other prisons across the country. It is not yet known whether the attackers acted in a coordinated manner or who was behind the attacks.
Prisons in Toulon, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Valence, Nîmes and the Paris suburbs of Villepinte and Nanterre were attacked.
