Explosives have been stolen from a munitions base in the south of France. Around 200 detonators and explosives were taken from the facility in the town of Miramas. The theft comes despite an increase in security after two major terrorist attacks in 2015.
Explosives, along with 180 detonators and 40 grenades were
snatched from the complex, which is around 60 kilometers
northeast of Marseille. Investigators are still trying to find
out the full extent of the raid and haven’t ruled out that more
explosives could be missing. The theft was first spotted at the
200-acre base, used as a logistics center for France’s foreign
operations, on Monday.
C’est dans ces petites maisons que sont entreposés à #Miramas
munitions et #explosifs#AFPpic.twitter.com/jghkcY6qgc
— Martin de Montvalon (@tinez16) July 7,
2015
The mayor of Miramas, Frederic Vigouroux, says he is extremely
concerned about the theft at the military base, which hosts up to
200 military and civilian personnel. The mayor added that it’s
the largest munitions base in Provence and there could as many as
260 detonators unaccounted for.
“This is a site that is highly secure and well-guarded. All
state services are on tenterhooks,” he said.
Vigouroux said he was surprised the thieves were able to get into
the highly guarded complex, while it later emerged that there
were reportedly no security cameras around the site’s fences.
“There are dogs and everything else that is needed to keep
this material safe. The thieves apparently gained entry via a
fence. The whole town has been listening to the news on the radio
or reading newspapers,” he added, according to the L’Express
publication.
The investigators initially believe that those involved in
organized crime were behind the raid, but they haven’t ruled out
terrorism.
The theft comes amid heightened security after a suspected
Islamist beheaded his boss and then tried to blow up a factory
near Lyon on June 26. Yassin Salhi, 35 tried to blow up the
“Air Products” gas factory in the town of
Saint-Quentin-Fallavier.
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MORE: Man beheaded, several injured in Islamist attack on French
gas factory
He entered the facility using his duty pass. Police later found
the beheaded body of Salhi’s boss on the factory premises.
The suspect, who is being held in police custody, denied the
attack was religiously motivated. However, French police said
that Salhi shouted “Allahou Akbar” (God is great) during
his detention.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls spoke about the necessity of
combating Islamic extremism after the incident.
“We cannot lose this war, because it is essentially a war of
civilization,” he told radio Europe 1. “It is our
society, our civilization and our values that we must
defend,” he added.
The attack at the gas factory came just over six months after the
Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris and a deadly raid by jihadists on
a Jewish supermarket in the outskirts of the French capital a day
later.