Police battle second night of city riots

5:00AM Wednesday November 28, 2007

French riot police fire rubber bullets during clashes in northern Paris suburbs. Photo / Reuters

VILLIERS-LE-BEL - At least 40 French police were hurt in running battles with scores of rioters in a suburb north of Paris where two youths died after a crash involving a police car.

During a second night of disturbances in Villiers-le-Bel and nearby areas, a local government official said one policeman was shot in the shoulder by some kind of firearm but was only slightly wounded.

A garbage truck and a police vehicle were among at least 36 vehicles torched late at night in the Val d'Oise area that includes Villiers and nearby districts also hit by the unrest.

A witness said police were pelted with stones, petrol bombs and large firecrackers that exploded over their heads during hours of cat-and-mouse skirmishes with rioters.

Police replied with tear gas, rubber bullets and paint guns designed to identify troublemakers. Spent cartridges and rocks thrown by rioters littered the streets.

Injured officers were given treatment in a local fire station used by police as a base. One, his face bloodied, had his arm in a sling. Officials said 40 officers were slightly hurt, though three needed hospital treatment.

Local mayor Didier Vaillant, who had earlier called for calm, said airguns had been fired at police.

"It looks like it's going to be a long night," he said.

The violence revived memories of the 2005 riots in France's poor, often ethnically diverse, housing estates.

In that unrest, thousands of cars were torched after two teenagers were accidentally electrocuted when they climbed into a power substation while apparently fleeing police.

Extra police had been drafted into Villiers-le-Bel yesterday in case of a repeat of disturbances.

- Reuters

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