France announces curfews in aftermath of violent protests

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France has announced partial curfews in several major cities across the country in the aftermath of the violent unrest that gripped the country over the weekend, reports Al Jazeera.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Monday that he had asked regional authorities to impose “partial” and “localised” curfews in some cities to protect businesses after weekend demonstrations spilled over into some of the worst street violence in recent years.

The call came as calm returned, allowing the government to review the response of authorities to the riots and strategies to prevent a recurrence.

Late on Monday, curfews in various cities and communes were announced.

Authorities issued a curfew order for ⁠Place de la ⁠Republique in ‌Paris and the streets around the Les Halles shopping street from 11pm local time (21:00 GMT) on Monday night until 6am (04:00 GMT) on Tuesday. Gatherings and demonstrations were also banned across the city starting at 8pm (18:00GMT), police said.

Similar curfews, some applying only to minors, were also announced for Monday night in Lyon, Nice and Coulaines.

In Lille in northeastern France, and three nearby communes, curfews were announced for Monday and Tuesday nights.

President ⁠Emmanuel Macron on Monday morning declined an offer from Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to resign ⁠in the wake of the unrest, which grew out of nationwide demonstrations by students protesting educational conditions, the Elysee presidential office said.

Macron said Nunez should stay in his position to ensure the chain of command is maintained within the police and security forces and asked the interior minister ⁠to establish new methods to deal with looters, the Elysee said in a statement.

The president also asked Nunez to “take all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence”, the statement added.

Lecornu later said he had asked local authorities to impose partial curfews starting on Monday evening.

“It is out of the question to put all of Paris under curfew,” he said, but insisted that he was “fully resolved to restoring public order”.

A state of emergency could be declared if necessary, though partial curfews seemed “more appropriate” at this stage, he said, according to the Reuters news agency.

“I’ve asked the prefects to implement a number of curfews for this evening,” Lecornu said, adding that “the key issues” include both “the protection of people, but also of property and businesses”.

The Ministry of the Interior said more than 2,300 people were arrested and almost 1,000 police and gendarmes were injured in protests on Saturday. Injuries were also reported among protesters, with one demonstrator’s hand blown off by a police crowd-control grenade.

The nationwide demonstrations brought together students demanding better conditions in the French education system and residents protesting against the high cost of living and faltering public services.

More than half a million people took part in the protests on Saturday. Looting, arson and damage to property occurred in many cities, with masked rioters attacking town halls, police stations and other government buildings.