Vehicles were set alight outside several French prisons, and one jail was hit by gunfire from an automatic weapon, in a wave of overnight attacks. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said the jails had faced "intimidation attempts" and linked the attacks to the government's crackdown on drug trafficking.

Multiple prisons in France have been targeted in a wave of “co-ordinated” attacks involving arson and gunfire. French justice minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed on Tuesday that attacks had been carried out overnight on several French prisons,