Riots began on Tuesday, June 27th in the suburbs of Paris, and quickly spread to towns and cities around France.

The spark for the riots was the death of a 17-year-old boy at the hands of police, and a longer history of police violence in France – especially against young men of colour in the more deprived suburbs. 

What’s the latest?

The worst of the rioting happened on the nights of Thursday, June 29th and Friday, June 30th, when thousands of people were arrested and shops, schools and cars were torched and shops looted.

The situation gradually calmed on Sunday and Monday nights and by mid-week the riots had largely fizzled out.

On Wednesday emergency provisions that limited public transport after 9pm were lifted in view of the generally calmer situation. A ban on the sale of fireworks and petrol in cans remains in place and a heavy police presence is expected in towns and cities over the weekend.

Tuesday night saw 16 arrests, and Wednesday night 20, mostly in the Paris suburbs.

So where did the riots happen?

The riots began in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, to the west of the city, where the Tuesday shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M happened, and quickly spread to neighbouring suburbs.

By the following night clashes had been reported in towns and cities around France including Lille, Toulouse, Dijon, Marseille, Strasbourg and Lyon.

The trouble for the most part stayed concentrated in certain areas, mostly the deprived suburbs on the outskirts of the towns, although small groups of looters were spotted in central Paris over the weekend, while central Marseille also saw clashes.

Rural France has been unaffected.

By Tuesday and Wednesday nights, clashes were reported in some of the suburbs of larger cities, especially Paris, but not in city centres. 

How dangerous are the riots?

There’s no doubt that the riots have been extremely destructive – more than 1,000 buildings have been set alight, ranging from schools and town halls to shops and fast-food restaurants while at least 5,000 cars were torched over successive nights of rioting.

More than 700 police officers have been injured during the course of the riots and there have been reports of journalists also injured while covering the unrest. 

So far, there have been few reports of injuries to members of the public and it is very unusual for passers-by to be attacked during social unrest in France, although the wife and children of a French mayor were injured when a car was crashed into their home by rioters.