French prisons: Police raids across France after wave of prison attacks

Police make 25 arrests so far as officers target Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux and, the city of Lyon.

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Raids are taking place across the country on Monday including in the capital Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux in the south, and the city of Lyon.

French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has suggested the attacks are the work of gangs who are retaliating against a new government crackdown on drug trafficking.

The most serious incidents took place over the course of five nights earlier this month, with vehicles being set alight and two prisons being targeted by gunfire in what Darmanin described as "terrorist attacks".

Prisons in Toulon, Aix-En-Provence, Marseille, Valence and Nîmes in southern France, and in Villepinte and Nanterre, near Paris were among those targeted.