France unrest: Teen laid to rest, clashes continue; hundreds arrested on fifth night
Nahel M, the 17-year-old whose killing by a policeman sparked riots across France, was laid to rest.
On Saturday, it appeared that the rioting was less intense even as thousands of police had been deployed in cities across the country.
Top updates on France unrest
Nahel’s funeral was held in the Paris suburb of Nanterre where he lived, with hundreds gathering peacefully along with his mother and grandmother. A ceremony took place in the early afternoon at the mosque in Nanterre with the interment taking place in the giant Mont Valerien cemetery in the area.
Nahel, who was of Algerian origin, was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
President Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to Germany that was scheduled to begin on Sunday to handle the worst crisis for his leadership since the “Yellow Vest” protests paralysed much of France in late 2018.
As many as 45,000 police personnel were deployed with specialised elite units, armoured vehicles and helicopters brought in to reinforce its three largest cities, Paris, Lyon and Marseille.
Sunday morning (local time), the situation was calmer than the previous four nights, although there was some tension in central Paris and sporadic clashes in the Mediterranean cities of Marseille, Nice and the eastern city of Strasbourg, Reuters reported.
The biggest flashpoint was in Marseille where police fired tear gas and fought street battles with youths around the city centre late into the night.
The interior ministry said 1,311 people had been arrested on Friday night, compared with 875 the previous night, although it described the violence as “lower in intensity”. The police said almost 200 people had been arrested nationwide on Saturday.
Rioters have torched 2,000 vehicles since the start of the unrest. Over 200 police officers have been injured, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Saturday, adding that the average age of those arrested was 17.
The unrest has raised concerns abroad, with France hosting the Rugby World Cup in the autumn and the Paris Olympic Games in the summer of 2024.
Britain and other European countries updated their travel advice to warn tourists to stay away from areas affected by the rioting.