AJACCIO (AFP) – A separatist group yesterday claimed a series of explosions in Corsica overnight, a new upsurge of violence after French President Emmanuel Macron last month offered the French Mediterranean island a form of autonomy.
Around a dozen explosions were recorded across the island overnight on Sunday to yesterday, mainly targeting second homes and building sites.
They did not cause any casualties or major damage, prosecutors said.
The blasts were claimed in a statement to the Corse-Matin newspaper by the separatist National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), which demands independence from France rather than a form of autonomy.
“We have no common destiny with France. We claim the series of actions of the night of October 8-9, 2023,” it said in the terse text, which ended with the phrase in Corsican language: “A Francia Fora” (“France Out”).
Ajaccio prosecutor Nicolas Septe told reporters that the blasts and a subsequent fire had been caused by explosives, gas cylinders and nitrate, and in some cases a mix of these.
The explosions came after Macron visited Corsica on September 28 and told the regional parliament: “We should have the courage to establish a form of autonomy for Corsica within France”.
But he warned the nationalist-controlled local legislature that this step would not happen “without” or “against” France.
Corsica shot to the top of the French political agenda last year when widespread violence broke out over the killing in a French mainland prison of key Corsican separatist figure Yvan Colonna.
