France riots: Violent protests continue, Iran issues advisory to its citizens [Updates]

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has advised Iranian citizens against taking unnecessary trips to France amid the ongoing violence in the European state.

At least 719 people were arrested overnight across France as violent protests against the police killing of a teenager continued for a fifth straight night, down from over a 1,000 the previous night, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced.

Although Paris region was calmer, Nice and Strasbourg witnessed more disturbances while Marseille city saw worst clashes where the police used teargas to control crowd.

Rioters rammed Paris suburb L'Hay-les-Roses mayor Vincent Jeanbrun's home and fired rockets at his wife and small children, BBC reported quoting police.

In a statement, Mayor Jeanbrun said: "It was an attempt at murder of incalculable cowardice."

France riots: Violent protests continue, Iran issues advisory to its citizens [Updates]IANS

In a tweet, Darmnain praised law and enforcement for their resolute action which led to a "calmer night."

The government has deployed 45,000 police personnel, special units, armored vehicles and helicopters to maintain law and order.

The unrest is in response to the death of 17-year-old Nahel, who was shot dead during a traffic stop on Tuesday morning in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, the rioting in France has spread to Belgium, with dozens of arrests being reported.

The grandmother of a teenager shot dead during a police traffic stop in a Paris suburb pleaded for the rioting to stop on the sixth straight night of unrest, while authorities expressed outrage over the targeting of a Mayor's home with a burning car as his family was sleeping.

The grandmother of the 17-year-old, known publicly by his first name, Nahel, said in a telephone interview with French news broadcaster BFM TV, "Don't break windows, buses ... schools. We want to calm things down."

"I'm telling them [the rioters] to stop," said the grandmother, who was identified only as Nadia and spoke a day after the teen's funeral, CBC News reported.

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"Nahel is dead. My daughter is lost ... she doesn't have a life anymore."

Protests have erupted across France since the teen, who was reportedly of north African descent, was shot Tuesday in the chest while driving away from a traffic stop in Nanterre, a working-class suburb 15 km from central Paris, CBC News reported.

Grandmother of teen killed by police officer in France pleads for halt to riotingGrandmother of teen killed by police officer in France pleads for halt to riotingIANS

Nahel's grandmother said she was angry at the officer who killed her grandson, but not at police in general, and expressed faith in the justice system as France faces its worst social upheaval in years.

The officer accused of killing Nahel was given a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide.

Thirteen people who didn't comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year, and three this year, prompting demands for more accountability.

On Sunday, Vincent Jeanbrun, Mayor of the southern suburb of L'Hay-les-Roses, said his wife and one of their children, aged five and seven, were injured as they fled their home in the early hours.

During the incident at his home, Jeanbrun, from the conservative Les Republicains party, was at the town hall monitoring the violence. The town hall has been the target of attacks for several nights since the shooting of Nahel, and has been protected with barbed wire and barricades.

Jeanbrun said the attack represented a new stage of "horror and ignominy" in the unrest, and he urged the government to impose a state of emergency.

The local prosecutor told reporters that an investigation into attempted murder had been opened. No suspects have been arrested, CBC News reported.

The prosecutor said the woman was injured as she fled through the backyard of the house.

In a less chic neighbourhood of northern Paris, protesters set off firecrackers and lit barricades on fire as police shot back with tear gas and stun grenades.

Skirmishes erupted in the Mediterranean city of Marseille but appeared less intense than the night before, according to the Interior Ministry. A bolstered police contingent arrested 55 people there, CBC News reported.

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Across the country, arrests were lower than the night before. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin attributed that to "the resolute action of security forces". Police made 719 arrests by early Sunday.

Darmanin said the latest overnight riots had been less intense, after 45,000 police were deployed following Saturday's funeral of Nahel in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Since he was shot on Tuesday, rioters have torched cars and looted stores, but they've also targeted state institutions — town halls and police stations.

Amid the unrest, a Second World War monument in Nanterre commemorating Holocaust victims and members of the French resistance was vandalized on the sidelines of a silent march on Thursday to pay tribute to Nahel.

The slogans included "Don't forgive or forget" and "Police, rapists, assassins." The European Jewish Congress denounced the vandalism as a "shameful act of disrespect for the memory of the victims of the Holocaust."

More than 3,000 people have been detained overall since Nahel's death.

The mass police deployment has been welcomed by some frightened residents of targeted neighbourhoods and shop owners whose stores have been ransacked, but it has further frustrated those who see police behaviour as the core of France's current crisis.

President Emmanuel Macron was holding a special security meeting Sunday night, and it was not clear whether he would make public comments. Macron has delayed what would have been the first state visit to Germany by a French president in 23 years, starting Sunday evening.

(With inputs from IANS)

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Iran warns citizens against trips to France amid ongoing violence

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has advised Iranian citizens against taking unnecessary trips to France amid the ongoing violence in the European state.

Kanaani made the remarks on Sunday in a statement published on the Ministry's website, commenting on the ongoing protests in France sparked by a policeman's fatal shooting of a teenager.

The spokesman also cautioned Iranians living in France against making unnecessary trips to or visiting conflict-ridden areas, noting that Tehran is closely monitoring the developments in France, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Tuesday last week, a French police officer opened fire and killed 17-year-old Nahel M, a French citizen of Algerian and Moroccan descent, while the latter refused to comply with the order to pull over his car.

The police officer who fired his gun later told investigators that he had acted for fear of the car causing a fatal accident.

The shooting has triggered violent protests throughout France, which have so far led to the arrest of hundreds of people by the French police in major cities.

(With inputs from IANS)