French officials have been compelled to address the crisis unfolding in the Alps after activist group 'Generation Identity' staged an operation challenging migrants crossing from Italy into France with the aid of left-wing militants.

Roughly 100 Generation Identity youth activists established a volunteer patrol of the Col de l'Echelle mountain pass, which thousands of African migrants have used to travel illegally into France - sometimes hundreds in a single day, according to locals.

The group unfurled massive banners reading, "Closed Border. You Will Not Make Europe Home! No Way. Back to Your Homeland!" and deployed helicopters, drones, vehicles, and portable fencing to monitor and deter incoming migrants as part of their 'Defend Europe' mission.

While the campaign achieved immediate success in peacefully turning away some migrants, a mob eventually overpowered border police, throwing objects and charging through the feeble blockade.

Sputnik News correspondent Edouard Chanot reports that 'no borders' operatives escorted the migrants to waiting cars to be transported to a safe house in France, while police observed.

Due to major media coverage of the event, French officials were forced to comment on the episode and the broader issue at hand, with the government pledging to 'boost security' at the crossing - which could ultimately translate into measures intended to prevent further embarrassment by Defend Europe or similar groups.

French interior minister Gérard Collomb denounced the "posturing" by Generation Identity, while offering little comment on the illicit conduct of the migrants or open borders radicals.

"I condemn the gestures (by Generation Identitaire) at Col de l'Echelle," Collomb wrote. "Only government authorities have the right to take action in our territory."

French MEP and former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen also weighed in, pointing out the hypocritical and "comical" reaction of leftists in the French National Assembly who were indignant that it had not been police forces controlling the border.

Generation Identity asserts that they will continue the Defend Europe mission in the Alps, as well as other locations.

(Photo: ROMAIN LAFABREGUE/AFP/Getty Images)