1,000 people have been arrested across France overnight as police have claimed they are “at war” while the family of a teenager shot dead by an officer prepared for his funeral on Saturday.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced on Saturday morning that 994 people had been arrested in the fourth consecutive night of nationwide clashes while 79 were injured.
In turn, police claimed in a leaked intelligence report that they are “at wore with savage hordes of vermin” intent on attacking them and destroying as much property as possible.
Nahel Merzouk, 17, will on Saturday be laid to rest following an Islamic ceremony close to his home in the north-western Paris suburb of Nanterre, where he was shot in the chest as he sat at the wheel of a stationary Mercedes last Tuesday.
The officer responsible – identified as Florian M., 38 – remains on remand having been charged with murder.
Meanwhile, Nahel’s mother, identified as just Mounia, told France 5 television: “I don’t blame the police, I blame one person: the one who took the life of my son.”
The UK Foreign Office has warned British tourists about the dangers of travelling in France.