Overview

• A series of coordinated attacks hit French prisons overnight, involving vehicle arsons and gunfire, with facilities in Toulon, Marseille, and Villepinte among those affected.
• The Toulon prison faced a Kalashnikov attack, leaving 15 bullet impacts on its main gate; no injuries were reported.
• Authorities are investigating potential links to the government's narcotrafficking crackdown and the involvement of ultraleft groups, with anarchist slogans found at some sites.
• Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin will visit Toulon today to support prison staff, while Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has ordered heightened security nationwide.
• The Direction nationale de la police judiciaire (DNPJ) is coordinating inquiries into the incidents, which officials describe as a direct challenge to state authority.