The Swiss army carried out a military exercise in August based on the premise of an attack by a fractured, financially stricken France, according to a Lausanne-based daily.

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Switzerland's army simulated a French attack against their country in a military exercise carried out in August, the Swiss daily newspaper Matin Dimanche revealed on Sunday.

The exercise employed a scenario in which a financially stricken France had been fractured into several regional entities, one of which was on the verge of attacking Switzerland to retrieve money it had allegedly stolen from France.

"The exercise has strictly nothing to do with France," Daniel Berger, captain of the Swiss armoured brigade, told the press. "It was prepared in 2012, when fiscal relations between both countries were less tense.”

Switzerland is known for its bank secrecy laws, which critics have slammed for allowing foreign account holders to hide their wealth from tax officials at home.

But these lax laws are coming under increasing fire as France and the US, among other countries, are cracking down on tax evasion during a period of economic hardship.

The Swiss army carried out a different military exercise in 2012, based on the premise of an unmanageable influx of refugees following a crash of the euro currency and ensuing chaos across the European continent.

(FRANCE 24 with wires)



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