Police clash with residents in locked-down Paris suburbs

PARIS: Police fought running battles in at least five suburbs of Paris overnight with residents who accused officers of using heavy-handed tactics to enforce France’s strict coronavirus lockdown.

Residents burnt cars and shot fireworks at police, who responded with rubber bullets and tear gas in the northern suburbs of Villeneuve-la-Garenne and Aulnay-sous-Bois, witnesses and police said on Monday.

The violence began on Saturday when a motorcyclist was injured during a police check in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, prompting a crowd to gather. A police statement said the group targeted officers with "projectiles" in a near two-hour standoff.

The motorcyclist crashed into the open door of a police car and required surgery for a broken leg. Residents allege the door was opened deliberately so that the rider would smash into it.

The 30-year-old will lodge a complaint against the officers, his family and a lawyer told AFP, while prosecutors have opened an investigation. By Monday morning, calm had returned to Villeneuve-la-Garenne after a second night of standoffs with police, according to an AFP journalist.