A series of attacks were carried out overnight on several French prisons with vehicles set alight and automatic weapons fired.
French justice minister Gerald Darmanin said: "Attempts have been made to intimidate staff in several prisons, ranging from burning vehicles to firing automatic weapons."
He continued: "I am going to Toulon to support the officers concerned. The French Republic is facing up to the problem of drug trafficking and is taking measures that will massively disrupt the criminal networks."
French media reports that six establishments were targeted - in Toulon, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, Valence and Nîmes, Luynes, Villepinte, and Nanterre.
French prisons were targeted overnight in a series of attacks
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French justice minister Gerald Darmanin
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A residence known to house prison guards' accommodation in the north of the city was targeted, according to local media. Two cars were set alight, and nine were tagged with the words "DDPF," or "droit des prisonniers Français" - the rights of French prisoners.
Currently, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but a source said "all of this appears coordinated and clearly linked to the minister's anti-narco-banditry strategy."
Another source suggested these raids could also have been carried out by far-left groups, as suggested by the DDPF inscriptions found at some of the attack scenes.
France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's department has confirmed it is investigating the attacks. According to local media, the entrance to Toulon prison was targeted by gunmen in a car at around 1am. The gunmen fled the scene.
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The prison in Hauts-de-Seine, in Nanterre in the suburbs of Paris
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Gendarmes found the door had been hit seven times and several boxes of ammunition were allegedly left on the ground. No one is believed to have been injured.
In Valence, a scooter was reportedly used to set fire to vehicles outside the prison.
The prison guard union, FO Justice,its "deepest concern and anger" following the "extremely serious" attacks overnight.
The union posted updates from the aftermath of several attacks on X, including images of bullet holes in the Toulon prison windows, and of burnt-out vehicles in other prison car parks. It called for urgent government action to protect prison staff.
Newly-appointed French Interior Minister Bruno RetailleauReutersInterior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he had instructed local prefects, alongside the police and gendarmerie, to immediately step up the protection of staff and prisons.
"The State's response must be implacable," he wrote on X. "Those who attack prisons and prison officers should be locked up in these prisons and watched over by these officers."
