French authorities have extended overnight curfews in Paris and other major cities and announced plans for a “massive” security deployment ahead of demonstrations scheduled for Saturday.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said the curfews would remain in force through Tuesday night “where the situation requires it.” Lecornu said the government would reinforce police deployments with military personnel and mount a major security operation ahead of Saturday’s planned protests, vowing that the deployment would be “massive.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez also confirmed that troops would be deployed alongside police.
Authorities imposed partial curfews in Paris and several other major cities on Monday after some of France’s worst rioting in recent years.
Police have also temporarily banned people from carrying cans or bottles containing petrol or gas following attacks on government buildings and shops.
The restrictions were accompanied by heightened security measures on the streets. In central Paris, police cleared and secured Place de la République overnight as a helicopter flew overhead.
In Lille, in the north of France, where the curfew applied only to minors, officers patrolled the city center and checked passersby’s identities.
In Marseille, a curfew targeting minors was due to take effect in several districts on Tuesday evening and remain in place at least through Friday.
Meanwhile, France’s main student union, UNEF, has called for further protests on Saturday, pledging to maintain pressure on President Emmanuel Macron’s government over deteriorating and underfunded education system. “We carry on,” the union said on social media.
Separately, groups identifying themselves as part of the Yellow Vest movement, which emerged in 2018 amid widespread anger over the cost of living, called for protests over rising fuel prices.
The unrest erupted across France on Saturday after around half a million people took to the streets to protest the cost of living, following four weeks of school demonstrations.
During protests at Place de la République in Paris, riot police clashed with demonstrators, using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds.
Dozens of people were reportedly detained in the capital, and some demonstrators were seriously injured.
One man lost a hand after a police grenade exploded, while a 17-year-old girl lost an eye in the eastern city of Mulhouse.
Images of clashes, looted stores and burning public buildings prompted several countries, including Iran, the United States, China, and Germany, to issue travel advisories for their citizens in France.
Protests in other European countries, including Italy and Albania, have heightened Western governments’ concerns that mounting public anger over rising prices and deteriorating living standards could spread across the continent.
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website