Riots again during fifth night of protest in France | Abroad

In Marseille, France’s second largest city, police say the situation is “under control”. The city had prepared for major riots. On Saturday night, according to the most recent reports, 60 people were arrested. Police spoke of an “agitated atmosphere” earlier in the evening and used tear gas during a confrontation with a group of protesters on the main street.

On the shopping street Champs-Élysées in Paris, where many shopkeepers have boarded up their display cases as a precaution, the police arrested 80 people on Saturday evening and seized weapons. Despite a large turnout of mainly young demonstrators, according to the French news channel, it remained BFMTV relatively quiet in the street at night.

There are reports of looting from Montpellier, in the south of the country. In Nice, also on the Mediterranean coast, a confrontation took place between the police and demonstrators who had set a large fire. The mayor of Nice confirmed late Saturday evening that the center of the city had been looted by “a gang of youths”. They would have been arrested on the basis of video images.

Just like during the night from Friday to Saturday, 45,000 police officers are again ready to intervene in France. Last night a total of 1311 people were arrested, 406 of them in Paris. According to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, more than 200 police officers have been injured since the unrest began on Tuesday. According to him, 2,000 vehicles went up in flames during the riots. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said more than 700 businesses such as supermarkets, restaurants and bank branches have been “raided, looted and sometimes burnt down.”

On Saturday, 17-year-old Nahel was buried in Nanterre, France. The death of the boy has sparked unrest in France. Nahel, of Algerian descent, was shot by a police officer during a traffic check on Tuesday.