France Sees Surge in Infrastructure Sabotage as Anarchist Networks Target Power and Data Systems
Executive Summary
France is facing a spike in coordinated acts of infrastructure sabotage attributed to anarchist-aligned extremists. Recent attacks on an electrical transformer in Saint-Chamond and the severing of fiber-optic cables in Jonquières left thousands without power or internet access. The incidents were celebrated and promoted by pro-insurrection platforms, signaling an escalated campaign targeting core state systems.
Analysis
Two recent acts of sabotage in France—one targeting electrical infrastructure and the other digital communications—highlight a deliberate campaign of disruption by radical elements within the anarchist and insurrectionary milieu. These actions are not merely opportunistic vandalism; they are part of an evolving strategy aimed at undermining the state’s operational foundations while gaining ideological visibility through sympathetic propaganda networks.
The first incident occurred on May 7, 2025, in Saint-Chamond, where arsonists ignited a fire that ultimately consumed part of an electrical transformer station responsible for converting high-voltage to low-voltage electricity. The attack, which began in a cable duct, caused widespread power outages affecting up to 3,000 households across Saint-Chamond and neighboring Sorbiers. The fire took the station offline, requiring mobile generators to restore service. French prosecutors have launched an arson investigation, now in the hands of the organized crime division of the Saint-Étienne judicial police.
A second major incident unfolded during the night of May 22–23 in Jonquières (Oise), where unknown individuals accessed underground cable ducts and severed a critical fiber-optic trunk line. The result was a massive outage impacting more than 10,000 homes and businesses, disrupting internet, landline, television, and mobile services across over 100 communes. Orange, the national telecom operator, confirmed that the cables were not stolen, pointing instead to deliberate sabotage.
Both incidents were later amplified on anarchist propaganda websites such as Act for Freedom Now! and Sans Nom, where they were repackaged under the rhetoric of militant action. These sites, known for glorifying sabotage and direct attacks against state and industrial targets, are key nodes in a broader ecosystem that includes Animal Liberation Front (ALF), Earth Liberation Front (ELF), and insurrectionary anarchist networks.
The framing of these events is critical. The language avoids neutrality, instead celebrating the impact—“plunging the town into darkness” or “severing the arteries of data”—and often metaphorically elevating these disruptions to acts of anti-systemic resistance. By framing infrastructure as oppressive or exploitative, these groups justify their tactics as preemptive defense against the state and capital.
The underlying ideology promotes not reform but collapse. From this perspective, attacking electrical grids or communication backbones is not terrorism but liberatory praxis—meant to expose the system’s fragility and inspire further attacks. The sites’ willingness to publish and translate mainstream media coverage also indicates a strategic aim: not just to report, but to amplify and weaponize visibility as part of a decentralized campaign.
For French authorities, these attacks pose a dual threat: physical and psychological. The material damage—blackouts, communication failures, economic disruption—is compounded by the symbolic blow to state control and continuity. Investigators face a complex challenge: diffuse, ideologically motivated actors who operate in the shadows, draw on transnational support networks, and thrive on the publicity generated by each successful disruption.
