Macron deploys special forces commandos to reinforce 45,000 cops as fifth night of violence erupts across France
EMMANUEL Macron has deployed special forces commandos to reinforce the 45,000 riot cops as the fifth night of violence erupts in cities across France.
The brutal chaos was sparked by the police killing of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk on Tuesday.
Since the killing, France has been plunged into “war” as police armoured cars and heavily armed paramilitary units were seen moving to confront gangs cutting a swathe of devastation across the nation.
President Macron dispatched the elite GIGN commandos after hundreds of people have gathered to bury the teen today.
The GIGN are France’s top hostage rescue unit and are mobilised in critical circumstances involving counterterrorism, national threat and protection of government officials.
According to The Telegraph, Grégory Doucet, the mayor of Lyon, where dozens of police officers were injured on Friday night – including several by gunfire – called for urgent reinforcements, saying police in the city were “overwhelmed”.
And following a crisis meeting, he said Lyon “has been in the grip of riots of unprecedented intensity, damage and violence”.
The GIGN arrived in Marseille last night, according to cops in Bouches-du-Rhône.
Their arrival follows a night of terrorising clashes between riot police forces and protestors on Friday.
As well as the elite GIGN, armoured vehicles and helicopters were being sent to back-up security in Marseille.
An Interior Ministry source said: “France has not seen nationwide unrest on this scale since World War II – it is out of control.”
The unprecedented street strife forced the UK Foreign Office to warn British tourists for the first time about the dangers of travelling in France.
They updated their travel advice on Friday urging travellers to monitor reports and avoid trouble spots.
The advice read: “Since 27 June, riots have taken place across France. Many have turned violent. Shops, public buildings and parked cars have been targeted.
“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.”
Hundreds of thousands of Brits are likely to be in France at the moment, given how many millions visit the country each year – 13 million in 2018 from the UK alone.
Local reports have stated that so far this evening, 56 arrests have been made in Marseille while a large security force was deployed on the popular tourist attraction – the Champs-Élysées.
But according to BFMTV, a local news outlet, the situation on Avenue des Champs-Elysees has now been deemed “under control” – after a tweet posted by a local reporter stated that there were “several injured” in the clash.
Last night, rioters also looted a gun store in the centre of Marseille and stole four hunting rifles.
21 people have been arrested in Lyon this evening for “carrying mortars, carrying prohibited weapons, crowds, violence against a person holding public authority and theft,” according to police sources.
32 arrests have reportedly taken place on the shopping avenue Jean Médecin and the pedestrian zone of Nice this evening.
Cops had made 1,300 arrests by early this morning after four nights of chaos – with 121 reported arrests made nationwide today, including 80 in Paris, according to BFMTV.
But despite the violence that has engulfed the streets of France, curfews have not yet been introduced in either Marseille or Lyon.
Amid the unrest, unpopular Macron who was blasted for dancing at an Elton John gig as trouble erupted, postponed a state visit to Germany on Saturday in a belated attempt to get a grip.
Macron said Nahel’s death was being used to justify wanton violence and destruction, calling the mob rampage “unacceptable exploitation of the adolescent’s death”.
Nahel, a French-Algerian, was pulled over by two cops in the western suburb of Nanterre before he was gunned down at the wheel of his rental car.
Mourners yesterday queued to view his open coffin before it was taken to the Ibn Badis mosque then on to the Mont Valérien Cemetery for burial.
The teenager – who was too young to hold a full licence in France and was said to have disobeyed previous police orders to stop his car – was shot in the chest at point-blank range.
A 38-year-old officer who fired the gun identified as Florian M has been charged with murder and was in custody.
Lawyers acting for Nahel’s mum Mounia have accused the cop of “cold blooded murder”.