France has announced partial curfews in several major cities across the country in the aftermath of the violent unrest that gripped the country over the weekend.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Monday that he had asked regional authorities to impose “partial” and “localised” curfews in some cities to protect businesses after weekend demonstrations spilled over into some of the worst street violence in recent years. Aljazeera reported.
call came as calm returned, allowing the government to review the response of authorities to the riots and strategies to prevent a recurrence.
Late on Monday, curfews in various cities and communes were announced.
Authorities issued a curfew order for Place de la Republique in Paris and the streets around the Les Halles shopping street from 11pm local time (21:00 GMT) on Monday night until 6am (04:00 GMT) on Tuesday. Gatherings and demonstrations were also banned across the city starting at 8pm (18:00GMT), police said.
Similar curfews, some applying only to minors, were also announced for Monday night in Lyon, Nice and Coulaines.
In Lille in northeastern France, and three nearby communes, curfews were announced for Monday and Tuesday nights.
President Emmanuel Macron on Monday morning declined an offer from Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to resign in the wake of the unrest, which grew out of nationwide demonstrations by students protesting educational conditions, the Elysee presidential office said.
Macron said Nunez should stay in his position to ensure the chain of command is maintained within the police and security forces and asked the interior minister to establish new methods to deal with looters, the Elysee said in a statement.
