The Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced today that it has launched an investigation into false bomb threats against aircraft flying over French territory, specifically to investigate a possible link between the perpetrators and “foreign powers.”
Investigations “are being conducted to identify the authors of the emails that spread this false information in order to lead the public to believe there was a dangerous situation, as well as to determine any possible connection between these authors and foreign powers," the prosecutor’s office told the French Press Agency.
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On Thursday, an Aer Lingus plane was diverted to Évreux following a bomb threat. Yesterday, Friday, the Prime Minister’s office reported four new alerts issued for aircraft flying over French territory, where bomb disposal experts conducted “security inspections.”
Three of these aircraft landed at Orly Airport and the fourth at Bordeaux Airport, all safely, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“An investigation is underway to determine the origin of these threats, which are affecting all of Europe,” added the office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who is responsible for the country’s aviation security and defense.
Dozens of commercial flights have received bomb threats since the beginning of the week in Europe. Planes were forced to change course, be escorted by fighter jets, be evacuated, or be searched. No explosive devices were found in any of these incidents.
Irish media outlets, British media outlets such as Sky News, and French media outlets such as TF1 also received bomb threats.
The Irish government denounced yesterday what it called a “potentially coordinated campaign aimed at causing disruption.”
Claims of responsibility for the threats sent Thursday to the airports in Rome and Sofia came from the Russian extremist organization “Fighters of the State of Males,” but the leader of that organization denied any involvement.
For months, European officials have been denouncing the increase in destabilization operations carried out for the benefit of Russia or Iran, including disinformation campaigns, sabotage, and cyberattacks, among other things.
Intelligence agencies have been anticipating for weeks an escalation of these campaigns, particularly from Russia, aimed at influencing European support for Ukraine.
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Source: APE-MPE
