PARIS — France will reinforce police with troops and mount a massive security operation for protests planned on Saturday, the government announced Tuesday, acknowledging failures in its response to the rioting and looting that swept through Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities on October 17.
“The deployment next Saturday will be massive,” Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu told lawmakers, adding that restoring order was the government’s immediate priority, Reuters reported.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told a rowdy parliamentary debate that soldiers would be deployed alongside police, and pledged to overhaul security tactics after widespread criticism that city centers had been left vulnerable.
Lecornu admitted the weekend response had fallen short, citing intelligence failures, police units that stayed too static, and the decision to let scheduled police leave go ahead. Nunez apologized for the failures: “I deeply regret what happened. I accept my share of responsibility.”
A night of relative calm followed targeted curfews imposed in several affected areas, and police extended the restrictions into Tuesday night, including measures applying to people under 18 in some areas.
Parliament is setting up an inquiry commission to investigate what caused the unrest, and authorities have assigned 200 investigators to identify those involved in the street violence, Cyprus Inform reported.
Framing the crisis as a choice “between violence and the Republic,” Lecornu blamed the unrest on far-left groups, who in turn accused the government of underestimating public anger over high living costs and declining public services.
The turmoil has shaken France ahead of presidential elections next year, with candidates from the far right and hard left polling strongly, and follows similar cost-of-living protests in Italy and Albania.
This is a developing story. Zark News will update it as Saturday’s demonstrations unfold.
Sources: Reuters; Cyprus Inform.
