News article 30th October 2005

Paris has endured many nights of violence in the worst racial disturbances the French capital has ever seen.

While the British media are playing down the news, the French press reports that a highly tense situation remains in the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. The trouble began on a Thursday evening when immigrants, mainly from North and Central Africa responded to the accidental death of two youngsters of North African origin fleeing from Police who were wanted in connection with a robbery carried out earlier that evening. The ethnic rioting has now spread to many French cities and towns with hundreds of rioters attacking police lines.

On succeeding nights trouble again erupted with fire-fighters being asked to deal with many separate incidents across the cities and suburbs. Gangs of youths set garbage bins and cars ablaze, threw Molotov cocktails and also fired shots at police.

The scale of the violence was unprecedented in France and the police were not equipped or prepared to deal with the rioting.

“Civil war”

At one point an official from police trade union Action Police CFTC called for help from the army to support police officers.

"There's a civil war under way the moment," Michel Thooris, from Action Police CFTC, said. "My colleagues neither have the equipment nor the practical or theoretical training for street fighting."