French authorities arrest at least 25 suspects behind prison attacks

PARIS (Reuters) - At least 25 suspects were arrested on Monday on terrorism charges related to a spate of attacks against French prisons earlier this month, France's national anti-terrorism prosecutor's office (PNAT) said.

An initial 22 people were arrested early in the morning, with three detained later, PNAT said.

French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who has led a push to toughen up prison conditions for some of France's most dangerous inmates, cheered the arrests.

"I would like to thank the magistrates and law enforcement officials who arrested early this morning those presumed to have been behind the attacks against our prisons and prison staff," he wrote on X.

The PNAT said that over five separate nights, at least 10 French prisons were attacked with automatic weapon fire, fires and a mysterious tag: "DDPF" or "French Prisoners' Rights." A short-lived Telegram group with the same name also came under police scrutiny.

Darmanin and French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau have said drug-traffickers, angered by the government's push to crack down on gangsters running their empires from behind bars, are most likely responsible for the attacks.

The PNAT said it was being aided in the investigation by the JUNALCO organized crime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Bernadette Baum, William Maclean)

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