France is bracing for additional attacks in the wake of the country's rail network being besieged by arson Friday, affecting nearly 1 million travelers. Tracks were set ablaze at "strategic points" across the country just hours before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, reported Metro UK.
The City of Light has deployed special forces troops throughout the streets of the capital in anticipation of further potential attacks, reported The Sun.
Patrice Vergriete, acting transport minister, said the earlier rail attacks were "an outrageous criminal act."
"We are preparing for it. We had no specific alert before these planned acts of malice and sabotage. Today we are on alert, so obviously we have mobilized all security forces as well as drones, so today we have greatly increased our vigilance," he said.
Close to 20,000 soldiers and 30,000 police officers along with fighter jets, helicopters carrying sharpshooters, and spy drones will aid in surveilling the city.
The deployment marks the country's largest in peacetime in an effort to keep the 15 million Olympic visitors and 10,500 competitors safe.
The country's rail operator, SNCF, said it will be increasing security using "both human and technical resources" in the wake of the attack "in coordination with the forces of law and order," according to a statement.
While some routes slowly have become operational, officials cautioned of continued major disruptions. The Eurostar canceled 25% of its trips between Paris and St. Pancras, a major artery in the city, today and into early next week. The cancellations are set to affect 800,000 people this weekend.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the attackers "knew where to hit" and had "knowledge of the network."
"What we know, what we can see is that this operation has been planned, coordinated, that key points have been targeted, which shows a kind of knowledge of the [train] network," he said.
While no one has yet taken credit for the attack, it has been posited that Russia and Iran could be behind what French media has called a "coordinated" and "studied sabotage."
According to NBC, U.S. intelligence officials also point to anarchists or extreme leftists as likely culprits.
Environmental activists made a stir today in Bois de Vincennes, a public park in Paris, after they were arrested for allegedly climbing trees overlooking the cycling time trial track in an attempt to target the race, reported French newspaper Le Parisien.