Bomb threat stops trains in northern France, delays Eurotunnel

A bomb alert has stopped the movement of trains at the Calais-Fréthun station, in northern France, on Thursday morning and has delayed the Eurostar trains that connect Paris and London. It is the latest episode of a wave of false threats that has lasted for two weeks and that has reached airplanes, the media and schools in several European countries, without any explosives being found.

The prefecture of Pas-de-Calais reported the alert early in the morning and warned that the checks could affect traffic in the area. After a few hours, he confirmed on the X social network that the verification had concluded without incident and that road traffic was resuming.

The French state railway company SNCF has restored mid-morning train service, after the Gendarmerie authorized the resumption. The Eurostars do not stop in Calais-Fréthun, but they cross it on the way to the Eurotunnel, which crosses the English Channel, and the company has explained that, at the request of the French authorities, they have not been able to pass through it during the alert.

The threat campaign began on Monday of last week with a bomb warning against a plane, and in the following five days more than 50 flights received similar alerts. Several of those messages were signed on behalf of the “Male State fighters,” a misogynistic movement banned in Russia since 2021, whose founder has denied any involvement.

On Wednesday, hundreds of Italian schools were evacuated after receiving an email announcing explosives in their buildings and a bomb in the car of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. According to the Italian press, the message reached some 6,300 centers. Schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland received similar threats, which police called false. The email was signed “Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misogynistan”, a name unrelated to any known organization that appeared for the first time on November 6, in the threats against the networks RTÉ, in Ireland, and Nova TV, in Bulgaria. Dayeh University in Taiwan has explained that the shipments to Italy came from the account of a former student who, according to its initial investigation, was hacked.

No government or organization has claimed responsibility. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has described the events as “an attempt at hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare.” Moscow has denied being behind it.