PARIS: French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has asked regional authorities to impose 'partial curfews' in some cities on Monday evening as France reels from two days of unrest in which town halls were burned and hundreds of businesses looted, The Express Tribune reported.
Key points
- Official figures put the toll at nearly 1,000 officers injured and about 2,400 arrests
- Interior Minister Laurent Nunez admitted police 'lost control' in several cities
- President Macron rejected Nunez's resignation
- The Yellow Vest movement has called new protests for Saturday
A resignation, and an admission
Nunez submitted his resignation a day earlier amid mounting criticism of how the authorities handled the unrest. Speaking to France Inter radio, he said he was responsible for everything that happens on the ground and acknowledged a 'lack of anticipation' in deploying available forces.
According to broadcaster BFMTV, President Emmanuel Macron rejected the resignation but called for transparency over what he described as 'failures in anticipation and intelligence' behind the scale of the violence.
Marseille among the hardest hit
Authorities said up to 30,000 people took part in looting in Marseille on Saturday, one of the worst-affected cities. Nunez is expected to visit the city.
How it started
The unrest erupted during nationwide demonstrations against the high cost of living on Saturday. A high school protest movement has also been under way since mid-September, and on Monday students blocked access to the Louvre in Paris to denounce what they called police repression.
More on The Express Tribune.