ALF launches bomb attack in France

The Animal Liberation Front, an animal rights terrorist group which had reduced its operations in the UK where it started, has launched its second attack on an installation in France. After a drop in operations directed against UK targets, the ALF-France appears to have taken the fight against animal experiments into continental Europe.

Details of the attack emerged several weeks after a fire, which was started at the Saint-Germain-sur-l'Arbresie site of Charles River, a firm which breeds animals for laboratories in the Rhone departement near Lyon. Police discovered the remains of a bomb, described by the daily newspaper Le Figaro as "far more elaborate than the incendiary devices employed until now by the radical militants of the animal cause." Also found at the scene were three burnt-out trucks and the letters "ALF" were painted in red on an undamaged part of the Charles River buildings.

A five-member team from the French Anti-Terrorist Bureau (BLA) and the Lyon criminal investigation unit of the Gendarmerie has been formed to follow up any leads on this attack. The ALF-France published a statement on its blog, claiming responsibility for the firebombing. After explaining that it had targeted "the biggest center in France for raising animals destined to be snuffed under scalpels," the group warned "we're not finished with you yet."