French prison attacks are 'terrorism' says justice minister

France's Justice Minister said the government would not give in to "acts of intimidation" after a wave of attacks targeting prisons across the country.

On Monday night, vehicles were set alight outside several French prisons and one jail was hit by gunfire, in what Gérald Darmanin described as "terrorist attacks".

Seven prisons have been targeted, in Toulon, Aix-En-Provence, Marseille, Valence and Nîmes in southern France, and in Villepinte and Nanterre, near Paris.

Darmanin suggested the attacks which began on Sunday were a response to the government's crackdown on drug trafficking. France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's office has launched an investigation.

On Tuesday, Darmanin visited Toulon's La Farlede prison where gunmen opened fired on the prison gate with a Kalashnikov.

"I am delighted that the national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office has taken action because this is extremely serious," he told reporters. "These are terrorist attacks."

He added that "significant means" were being employed to find the perpetrators and they would be given "extremely severe sentences".

Darmanin indicated that the "acts of intimidation against prison workers" were related to government efforts to tackle drug crime.

"It might also be because we hit them where it hurts," he said, "and for the first time in decades, France is taking extremely serious measures against drug trafficking."

Earlier on Tuesday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the government's response must be "relentless".

"Those who attack prisons and officers deserve to be locked up in those prisons and monitored by those officers," he posted on X.

He added that he had instructed police to immediately strengthen security at prison facilities.

The prison guard union, FO Justice, expressed its "deepest concern and anger" following the "extremely serious" attacks overnight.

The union posted updates from the aftermath of several attacks on X, including images of burnt-out vehicles in prison car parks and bullet holes in the Toulon prison entrance gate.

It called for urgent government action to protect prison staff.

Another union, Ufap-Unsa Justice, said there were not enough officers to secure prison perimeters "24/7".

Ufap said that staff vehicles were among those set on fire outside the jails in Villepinte, Aix-Luynes, Nanterre and Valence.

The union condemned the "cowardly and heinous attacks [that] aim to terrorise those who embody the authority of the state".

In Nancy, a prison officer was reportedly threatened at their home, while in Marseille, an attempted arson attack targeted prison officers' accommodation.

Monday night's attacks come after seven vehicles were set on fire in a similar attack on France's national school of prison administration on Sunday, according to FO Justice.

"It is worrying to note that some people no longer hesitate to directly attack the prison's property, a symbol of state authority," it said in a statement.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Parisien reports that the letters DDPF - meaning "French prisoners' rights" - were found inscribed on damaged vehicles. The AFP news agency says anarchist slogans were found at some sites.

AFP quotes a source close to the case as saying the attacks appeared to be coordinated and "clearly linked" to the government's strategy against drug trafficking.

Darmanin and Retailleau have vowed to tackle the scourge of drug trafficking and drug-related violence in France amid a rise in gang-related crime.

In February, the interior ministry announced a record number of cocaine seizures in the first 11 months of 2024 - 53.5 tonnes, a rise of 130% on the 23.2 tonnes seized in 2023. Retailleau said France had been hit by a "white tsunami".

Darmanin has proposed a number of measures to tighten prison security, including establishing dedicated high-security prisons to isolate the drug lords who run their empires from behind bars.

A law is passing through the French parliament which creates a special prosecutor's office to deal with drugs crime, with new powers for investigators.