Fires regard across protest sites in France and over thirteen hundred people have been arrested as violent demonstrations over the killing of a teenage boy who was shot by police entered a fourth night.
Things have escalated even further as news has emerged of rioters in the Paris suburbs reportedly firing Kalashnikov-pattern rifles into the air.
“Mass rioting has continued to grip France after the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Multiple videos circulating online have shown rioters across France carrying military-grade weapons. Around 45,000 police officers have been deployed to quell the unrest, which has spread throughout the country.
At least four officers were injured by drive-by shotgun attacks in Lyon’s northeastern suburb of Vaulx-en-Velin, according to local media reports citing police sources. A total of eight were targeted by the unknown assailants, who rode scooters. A criminal investigation has been launched, with no suspects apprehended thus far.
France is known for its strict gun control laws, with ownership of military grade weapons banned completely. At the same time, the country has had problems with the flow of illegal guns for quite some time. Balkan countries have been a major source of illegal weapons in the French market since the regional conflicts of the 1990s and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Apart from fighting gun trafficking from abroad, the French authorities have repeatedly launched campaigns to round up unlicensed firearms stashed in the country, encouraging their owners to hand over their arsenals”. -RT
The French police say they are “at war with savage hordes of vermin” as they allegedly threaten revolt over rioting.
The riots began in the Paris suburb of Nanterre after the mother of the 17-year-old pizza delivery driver killed by police during a traffic stop called for “vengeance”.
Although the police are observable at fault in this particular instance, if only French authorities were so inclined to prevent the “savage hordes” from invading France under the guise of providing sanctuary for refugees instead of sitting idly by until something sparks off the sacking and burning of the suburban “banlieues”.