NEARLY 1,000 people were arrested overnight in a fourth night of chaos across France – as cops branded rioters “vermin”.
And more mayhem is expected today following the funeral of Nahel Merzouk – the 17-year-old driver whose police shooting at the wheel of his car triggered nationwide outrage.
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The French interior ministry said there were 994 arrests last night and 79 officers have been injured – though officials suggested the violence is beginning to lessen.
And British holidaymakers been advised by the government to avoid travelling to France as the country imposed curfews and traffic shutdowns to try and quell nationwide rioting.
The Foreign Office on Friday updated its travel advice as a response to the violence, saying: “Since 27 June, riots have taken place across France.
“Some local authorities may impose curfews. Locations and timing of riots are unpredictable.”
FLASHPOINT FUNERAL
Thousands of mourners are today expected to come out for the Islamic ceremony for the teen after his “execution” by a single shot fired by a cop into his stationary car on Tuesday.
The officer responsible – identified as Florian M., 38 – remains on remand having been charged with murder.
The north-western Paris suburb of Nanterre – where Nahel lived with his mum Mounia on a council estate – is expected to be the flash point following Nahel’s funeral.
Mounia’s lawyers have accused the police of “cold blooded murder”.
The grieving mum said: “He was my lovely baby. They took away my heart.”
Nahel was from a French-Algerian background, and protesters claim racism was behind the teenager’s death.
‘AT WAR WITH VERMIN’
But responding to the mayhem, two of France’s top police unions wrote in a damning statement: “Faced with these savage hordes, calling for calm is no longer sufficient, it must be imposed!”
They went on to say the police are waging a war against “vermin”, and threatened a revolt if peace isn’t restored.
It comes as President Emmanuel Macron chaired the French equivalent of a COBRA meeting — the second in two days — on Friday, as he attempted to deal with the national crisis.
Afterwards, he said he was prepared to do “anything possible to restore public order.”
Mr Macron said many of the rioters were “young people, sometimes very young” and that “it’s the parents’ responsibility” to keep their children at home.
He added: “We sometimes have the feeling that some of them are living in the streets [of] the video games that have intoxicated them.”
MACRON SLAMMED
Macron has been slammed for going to an Elton John concert a day after Nahel’s death – a move heavily criticised by France’s political parties, as he’s neglected to impose a state of emergency.
Thierry Mariani, of the National Rally, said: “While France was on fire, Macron was not at the side of his minister of the interior or the police, but he preferred to applaud Elton John.”
Armed cops and other security forces have dispersed across the country with 45,000 officers deployed, backed by light armoured vehicles.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said last night: “It’s France that is going to win, not the rioters.”
Darmanin ordered a nationwide nighttime shutdown on Friday of all public buses and trams, which have been targeted by rioters.
He also said he warned social networks not to allow themselves to be used as channels for calls to violence.
France’s national soccer team – along with international star Kylian Mbappe – pleaded with the protesters for a peaceful solution.
Mbappe shared on Twitter: “Many of us are from working-class neighbourhoods, we too share this feeling of pain and sadness over the killing of 17-year-old Nahel.
“Violence resolves nothing. There are other peaceful and constructive ways to express yourself.”
GUNS LOOTED
Rioters were seen breaking into shops and other businesses last night in multiple cities.
The cities of Lyon, Grenoble and Marseille were badly hit, as looters got away with an estimated hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of goods.
Looters broke into a gun shop and made off with weapons in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille last night, according to police.
The French government announced this weekend that all major public gatherings that could “pose a risk to public order”, including rock concerts and sports events, will be banned.
Thirteen people who didn’t comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year.
This year, another three people, including Nahel, died under similar circumstances, prompting demands for more accountability in France.
This week’s protests echoed the three weeks of rioting in 2005 that followed the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traor and 17-year-old Zyed Benna, who were electrocuted while hiding from police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois.
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Nick Parker
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