French authorities reiterate that there was a terrorist attack at the Dakar Rally

The French authorities assure that the explosion in the lower part of an assistant vehicle at the Dakar where French driver Phillipe Boutron was injured was intentional.

The authorities in charge of investigating the case found traces of explosives and a homemade explosive device, which confirms the thesis of a terrorist attack.

The explosion of the vehicle happened on December 30 of last year, hours before the raid began in Saudi Arabia.

Pilot Boutron suffered very serious injuries that left him in a coma for a few days.

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Yves Le Drian, assured at that time that they did not rule out a hypothetical terrorist attack.

Investigations into a second explosion on the Dakar, which occurred a day after the first explosion, on December 31, are currently underway.

This second explosion affected the Camelia Liparoti team's support truck.

The Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister assured on January 8 that the first investigations into the incident had not detected any evidence of criminality.