Nearly 1,000 Arrested in Violent Protests Across France

France’s interior ministry said nearly 1,000 people were arrested during nationwide protests on Saturday in cities across the country. Laurent Nunez, the acting interior minister, said security officers faced severe violence from masked far-left demonstrators.

The CGT union, one of the organisers of the protests, said the number of participants in this round of rallies was around 800,000. Despite the scale of the protests and the significant number of arrests, the acting interior minister said the marches had generally gone well.

This round of protests came only a week after violent rallies in which the town hall in Limoges was set on fire, there were fierce clashes between protesters and police, shops were looted and police used stun grenades and tear gas. More than 2,700 people were arrested in those protests.

This renewed tension in France has prompted widespread reaction and concern, and once again drawn attention to the handling of civil unrest and police response.