Conflicts

Friday will see the start of the Paris Olympics, and just Friday morning France faced sabotage on the TGV rail network. Some 800,000 people are feeling the effects of coordinated arson attacks.

French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra spoke of an "appalling sabotage" which she said was probably linked to Friday's opening ceremony, on the Seine in Paris.

"What happened was neither the first nor the last of the difficulties we'll face. This type of malicious, coordinated action is probably an act of sabotage. What remains to be established is the precise intent," she told the press.

"We're not going to let ourselves be destabilized: we had anticipated all these scenarios. All these crisis scenarios have been thought through. (...)  All this shows that we're ready to handle crises. They're not going to spoil the party by doing this."

Meanwhile, French intelligence services have been searching for the perpetrators of the arson attacks. At least five places were set on fire, resulting in the disruption of the French high-speed train network.

Not only will the Games start this way with a lot of disruption, many French and foreign tourists who were supposed to travel by train will see their departure plans scuppered. Only from Monday would trains in France return to normal.

The arson attacks on Thursday and Friday point to the security risks Paris may face in the coming weeks. For Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, the sabotage will not affect Friday night's opening ceremony.

(Tagtik/Source: BFMTV, Reuters/Illustration picture: Unsplash)