Tensions continue to be very high in France, where the funeral of Nahel, the 17-year-old from Nanterre, whose death - at the hands of a policeman - set the country ablaze causing a veritable guerrilla war in the banlieues was held in the afternoon.
Tension and emotion in the mosque, thousands have called for "justice for Nahel" but there have been no incidents.
However, we are heading towards a fifth night of clashes: 45,000 policemen still lined up with "enormous" reinforcements announced by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin for the two cities most at risk in the last few hours, Lyon and Marseille. Armored vehicles, helicopters, special departments of the GIGN: in Marseille and Lyon, the two cities that suffered the most from the violence of the accidents on the night between Friday and Saturday, saw the flow of an unprecedented amount of reinforcements.
Macron, who wants to "stay in France in the next few days", has postponed the state visit to Germany which was scheduled for tomorrow.
Many are calling for a curfew, but the Elysée has decided not to order such a drastic measure.
And if in Paris and Ile-de-France we count on the trend that yesterday recorded a relatively calmer evening than the previous one, Lyon has seen "unprecedented" violence in the last 48 hours, as the local authorities have repeated. In Marseille the battle in the city center and at the old port has raged for hours, with hundreds of fires, subways, trams and buses already stopped. So much so that the Municipality has asked the managers of scooters and rental bikes to remove everything from the streets to prevent fires from being set. A reconnaissance aircraft will fly over the city throughout the night, indicating the location of the incidents to ground forces.
In other cities, in the banlieues, but also in small towns hoping to escape the wave of anger and violence, attempts are being made to contain casseurs and black blocs, but the task appears difficult because the commandos of young people who leave to loot shops, set fires or simply wreak havoc on everything that comes within range are hard to anticipate.
Among the episodes that caused the most emotion, the fire of a media library in Metz last night, with the documents and computer equipment going up in flames causing incalculable damage. The institute would have celebrated 30 years of activity next year. In Montargis, in the center of the country (the Loire), three buildings were set on fire. In one of these, the pharmacy in the central square literally burned down.
Over 1,300 people were arrested last night, 1,350 vehicles were reported on fire, 266 buildings on fire or seriously damaged, including 26 town halls and 24 schools. The number of fires on the streets is lower (dumpsters and street furniture), 2,560. While there were 31 attacks on police stations, 16 on municipal police posts, 11 on gendarmerie barracks. At least 79 policemen and gendarmes injured.
The ministers also repeated the appeal made yesterday by Macron to families, to "keep underage children at home". “Parents who are not interested in them and those who let them wander around at night despite knowing where they are going risk 2 years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine. It is not up to the state to educate children, the state can help parents but it cannot take their place".
In the meantime, the body of young Nahel, in a white coffin, was buried in the Mont-Valérien cemetery in front of a few hundred family members, friends and peers from Nanterre. For the last farewell there were his grandmother and his mother, who raised him alone and who lately had seen him, like many of his friends in the banlieue, drop out of school and start earning his first money as a "rider", dedicating himself in his free time to rap and motorbikes. And to his sporting passion for rugby.
(Unioneonline/L)
