Mohammadi News Agency News – Features – Photo
MNA Sports Desk: Anti-government protesters torched dozens of cars and set fire to storefronts during daylong clashes with riot police across central Paris on Saturday, as thousands took part in fresh “yellow vest” protests against high fuel taxes.
Officers responded with tear gas after being targeted by protesters hurling rocks and other projectiles on the third weekend of demonstrations which have morphed into a broader rebuke of French president Emmanuel Macron.
Smoke engulfed several shopping districts as the violence spread from the Arc de Triomphe, where crowds had gathered earlier hoping to march down the Champs-Elysees.
While several dozens were allowed into the avenue after an ID check and search, many others — some wearing gas masks or ski goggles — remained behind and fought police manning barricades and water cannons.
“Those responsible for this violence don’t want change or improvement, they want chaos,” president Emmanuel Macron said in Buenos Aires where he was attending the G20 summit.
“No cause justifies that authorities are attacked, that businesses are plundered, that passers-by or journalists are threatened or that the Arc de Triomphe is defiled,” he said.
Authorities said at least 287 people were arrested in Paris and 110 injured, including 17 of the 5,000 police officers mobilised for the protests. Nearly 190 fires were put out and six buildings were set alight, the interior ministry said.
