Police issue overnight curfew in parts of Paris to try and curb further disorder

Paris police said in a statement they had issued an overnight curfew in two areas of the French capital “to protect people and property from the violence and looting”.

The statement said that the orders ban gatherings and demonstrations and impose a curfew prohibiting anyone from entering or remaining around the Place de la Republique, where rioting took place on Saturday, and the shopping neighbourhood of Les Halles, which has been subject to looting.

The curfew would be in effect from 11pm on Monday until 6am on Tuesday.

The news comes after the French prime minister said he had instructed prefects to impose “very limited” and “localised” curfews in cities to prevent more rioting and looting.

The measure follows violence this weekend that notably targeted city halls, other public buildings and hundreds of businesses across the country.

Speaking after an emergency meeting with top government officials, Sebastien Lecornu said “on Saturday, despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no-one was killed, and that is a miracle” as he defended the work of police officers faced with violent groups.

He said details of the curfews would be announced later on Monday after consultations with mayors.

Mass protests in France are often tainted by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, leading to clashes with police.

Saturday’s unrest recalled the riots that followed the fatal police shooting of a teenager in 2023, when authorities imposed local curfews, and violence during the yellow vest movement that began in 2018 over fuel prices and broader economic grievances.

The prime minister’s instructions came as interior minister Laurent Nunez offered his resignation on Sunday but French President Emmanuel Macron asked him to stay to respond to police needs in an emergency situation.

Mr Macron refused Mr Nunez’s resignation “given the need for continued command of law enforcement in the current context”, according to a statement from the French leader’s office.

The French president instructed Mr Nunez “to take all necessary steps to ensure full transparency about the failures in planning and intelligence gathering that led to the violence”, Mr Macron’s office added.

Mr Macron also asked for the introduction of “new policing tactics on the ground as quickly as possible” to put an end to violent events.

On Sunday evening, groups of people set fires to bins, bicycles and other objects in the streets and looted businesses in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities, a day after major violence erupted during nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools.

At least 2,400 people were arrested across the country.

Authorities estimated on Monday that at least 3,000 businesses were damaged or looted in several cities in the weekend violence.

“I submitted my resignation because I am responsible for everything that is happening,” Mr Nunez told France Inter radio.

“Now, the real issue is ensuring that this doesn’t happen again. We obviously need to be better at anticipating the kind of mobilisation that is unfolding.”

Mr Nunez blamed violence on “hordes of troublemakers and looters” and “far-left activists”, and acknowledged that police strategy needs to be adapted “in the face of extremely mobile groups”.

Authorities said groups of hundreds of people sought confrontations with police and targeted public buildings, including city halls and other public offices.

Mr Nunez acknowledged that authorities had “lost control” in some major cities on Saturday, with hundreds of businesses looted.

“You can’t look shopkeepers in the eye when hundreds of businesses have been looted and say: ‘We haven’t lost control in some of these major cities.’ Obviously,” the minister said.

Flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall in Limoges, central France, causing its roof to collapse and nearly destroying the building.

In Marseille, the prefect banned any protest or other gathering from noon to 8pm Monday.

In Paris on Monday, clean-up crews and firefighters cleared shattered glass and other debris from the streets.

Ouri Zagoury, owner of a video game shop near Paris’ Place de la Republique, said he closed the store on Saturday afternoon but then saw looters forcing their way in on surveillance cameras.

“There were so many people coming in and out. And even though I called the police, they said not to intervene, that they would come, but they never did, which is another problem,” the shop owner said.

Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally, pointed to the government’s failure to prevent violence.

“The government has failed, the head of state has failed in his essential duty of protecting the French people,” he told reporters at party headquarters.

“I call on the people of France now, beyond their right to protest, to use their voting power,” Mr Bardella said.

He is campaigning alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose polling numbers have for months suggested she is the front runner in next spring’s presidential election.