Assailants burned vehicles and in one instance fired automatic weapons as part of multiple overnight assaults on French prisons. The violence appears linked to a recent national crackdown on drug trafficking,
Later today, Tuesday, April 15th, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin will visit an attack site in the southern city of Toulon, calling the incidents ‘intimidation attempts.’ Other targeted locations were in Aix-En-Provence, Marseille, Valence and Nîmes in southern France, and in Villepinte and Nanterre, close to Paris.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau promised a “relentless” government response. While to date no group has claimed responsibility, the letters DDPF (meaning “French prisoners’ rights”) were reportedly scratched into the paintwork of damaged vehicles.
