France riots: More than 1300 arrested in fresh night of riots in France amid warning to British travellers

Friday night saw fresh clashes

Firefighters use a water hose on a burnt car in Nanterre, outside Paris,

Rioting raged in cities around France for a fourth night despite massive police deployment – with cars and buildings set ablaze and stores looted as family and friends prepared to bury the 17-year-old whose killing by an officer sparked the unrest.

The government suggested the violence was beginning to lessen thanks to tougher security measures, but damages remained widespread, from Paris to Marseille and Lyon and French territories overseas, where a 54-year-old died after being hit by a stray bullet in French Guiana.

Some 1,311 were arrested during the fourth night of unrest, the government said on Saturday.

A French police officer in riot gear looks on next to burnt cars at the Pablo Picasso neighbourhood in Nanterre

France’s national football team — including international star Kylian Mbappe, an idol to many young people in the disadvantaged neighbourhoods where the anger is rooted — have pleaded for an end to the violence.

“Many of us are from working-class neighbourhoods, we too share this feeling of pain and sadness” over the killing of 17-year-old Nahel, the players said in a statement.

“Violence resolves nothing.

“There are other peaceful and constructive ways to express yourself.”

They said it is time for “mourning, dialogue and reconstruction” instead.

The deadly shooting of Nahel, whose last name has not been made public, stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects who struggle with poverty, unemployment and racial discrimination.

The subsequent rioting is the worst France has seen in years and puts new pressure on President Emmanuel Macron, who appealed to parents to keep children off the streets and blamed social media for fuelling violence.

Family and friends were holding a funeral gathering on Saturday for Nahel in his hometown of Nanterre.

Anger erupted in the Paris suburb after his death there on Tuesday and quickly spread nationwide.

Early on Saturday, firefighters in Nanterre extinguished blazes set by protesters that left scorched remains of cars strewn across the streets.

In the neighbouring suburb of Colombes, protesters overturned bins and used them for makeshift barricades.

Looters during the evening broke into a gun shop and made off with weapons in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police said.

Officers in Marseille arrested nearly 90 people as groups of protesters lit cars on fire and broke shop windows to take what was inside.

Buildings and businesses were also vandalised in the eastern city of Lyon, where a third of the roughly 30 arrests made were for theft, police said.

Authorities reported fires in the streets after an unauthorised protest drew more than 1,000 people earlier on Friday evening.

2,500 fires

The Interior Ministry said 994 arrests were made during the night, with more than 2,500 fires.

The night before, 917 people were arrested nationwide, 500 buildings targeted, 2,000 vehicles burned and dozens of shops ransacked.

While the number of overnight arrests was the highest yet, there were fewer fires, cars burned and police stations attacked around France than the previous night, according to the Interior Ministry.

Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the violence was of “much less intensity”.

Hundreds of police and firefighters have been hurt, including 79 overnight, but authorities have not released injury tallies for protesters.

Nanterre mayor Patrick Jarry said France needs to “push for changes” in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.

Despite repeated government appeals for calm and stiffer policing, Friday saw brazen daylight violence too.

An Apple shop was looted in the eastern city of Strasbourg, where police fired tear gas, and the windows of a fast-food outlet were smashed in a Paris-area shopping centre, where officers repelled people trying to break into a shuttered shop, authorities said.

In the face of the escalating crisis that hundreds of arrests and massive police deployments have failed to quell, Mr Macron held off on declaring a state of emergency, an option that was used in similar circumstances in 2005.

Instead, his government ratcheted up its law enforcement response, with 45,000 police deployed overnight. Some were called back from annual leave.

Warning to British tourists

British travellers have been warned to be aware of the unrest in France.

Newly updated Foreign Office travel advice warns of potential disruption and cautions people to be aware of the uncertain situation.

It states: “Since June 27, riots have taken place across France. Many have turned violent. Shops, public buildings and parked cars have been targeted.

“There may be disruptions to road travel and local transport provision may be reduced. Some local authorities may impose curfews.

“Locations and timing of riots are unpredictable. You should monitor the media, avoid areas where riots are taking place, check the latest advice with operators when travelling and follow the advice of the authorities.”