Paris Is Burning Again

French youths rioted for a second night in the suburbs of Paris, injuring nearly 80 police officers and torching more than 70 buildings and cars. Police officials said the violence was “far worse” than two years ago, when rioters set fire to 10,000 cars and 300 buildings over three weeks.

This year’s conflict was apparently sparked by the death of two teenagers of Algerian origin, although the problems that launched the riots two years ago were never fully resolved and it can hardly come as a surprise that tensions remain high in the slums of France’s capital.

BBC:

The national secretary of the Synergie police union, Patrice Ribeiro, said at least 77 officers had been injured in the violence and that several had been wounded by shotgun pellets fired at them.

The French Interior Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, said six police officers had been injured seriously and that they included those who had been “struck in the face and close to the eyes”.

Mr Ribeiro said police were facing a situation that was “far worse than that of 2005”, which began in the nearby suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.

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AP photo / Thibault Camus

Rampaging youths threw Molotov cocktails and set fire to cars in a troubled neighborhood outside Paris on Monday, the second night of street violence after two teenagers were killed in a crash with a police patrol car.