Khaleej Times

Riots continue as cops kill Black man in France

-

nantes (France) — Dozens of cars and several buildings were torched in Nantes overnight as the western French city was rocked by a third night of rioting after police shot dead a young Black man.

Tuesday’s shooting inflamed already simmering tensions between youths and security forces in deprived urban areas, which often have large immigrant communitie­s.

The victim was a 22-year-old man identified by the media as “Aboubakar F.” who was under surveillan­ce as part of a drug-traffickin­g investigat­ion, with the policeman who pulled the trigger detained for questionin­g on Thursday.

Overnight, 52 cars were set alight, including the mayor’s personal vehicle, while eight buildings were damaged by fire or vandalism, including a bar in a shopping centre,

officials said. There were also arson attempts on a high school and a petrol station, but no injuries were reported, with the violence only subsiding at around 6am.

The unrest has again highlighte­d tensions in deprived urban areas of France where local youths often complain about police brutality but security forces are frequently treated as targets. In a separate developmen­t, two off-duty officers, a husband

and wife, were on Wednesday night attacked in front of their three-year-old daughter in a northeaste­rn suburb of Paris shortly after leaving a dinner party.

A police source said the attackers recognised the policewoma­n because she had recently stopped them for an ID check in the crimeridde­n area of Aulnay-sous-Bois.

President Emmanuel Macron denounced the attack as an “appalling and cowardly act” and vowed the suspects would be “found and punished.”

One of them has been arrested while the second remains on the run. In a bid to defuse tensions, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe visited Nantes on Thursday where he promised “the fullest transparen­cy” about the circumstan­ces of the young man’s death. But there are fears the unrest could spread.

In 2005, riots erupted across the country following the deaths of two Black teenagers who were electrocut­ed in a Paris suburb while hiding from the police.

Anger over heavy-handed policing bubbled over again last year when a young Black man in another Paris suburb suffered severe anal injuries caused by a truncheon during his arrest. — AFP

 ?? AFP ?? A vehicle burns on a street in Nantes on Friday. —
AFP A vehicle burns on a street in Nantes on Friday. —

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates