LIVE - Urban violence: “We will deploy a very significant police force” on Saturday, warns Laurent Nuñez, the first curfews in force

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will travel to Limoges on Friday, the scene of violent demonstrations which resulted in the burning of the town hall, Matignon announced on Monday.

The belfry of Limoges Town Hall collapsed on Saturday after demonstrators set it on fire.

The police “lacked resources” and “backed down” in the face of the thugs, “in Limoges as in other cities,” lambasted its mayor Guillaume Guérin (LR), demanding from the government “a Marshall plan” and “a rain of millions” to rebuild the town hall, and judging that “the State has failed”.

In a letter sent on Sunday to Guillaume Guérin, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised that the town hall would be rebuilt with the help of the State “because it is the symbol of a Nation which does not allow itself to be defeated or intimidated”.

The Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez, who came to Marseille on Monday evening to speak with the mayor (DVG) Benoît Payan, promised him more law enforcement next Saturday to supervise the next demonstration.

“We will deploy a very large police force which will in any case be more numerous than there was last Saturday,” the minister announced to the press, after an interview of more than 45 minutes with the mayor of the second largest city in France who had forcefully demanded his arrival.

Before Mr. Payan, who had questioned the nature of the orders given to the police last Saturday in Marseille and deplored their insufficient number, demanding "accounts", the minister assured that their "employment will be done (in the future) a lot in mobility, in extreme reactivity, taking into account the fact that we have groups of thugs who have taken action at many points".

During the violence and looting in the Marseille city, “there could be up to 10 or 15 points at the same time with groups of sometimes 200 people, so it is obviously extremely difficult to contain,” underlined the minister.

The local Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) counted on Monday “500 impacted businesses, including 317 damaged and looted” in France’s second city. The police made 101 arrests, including 74 adults and 27 minors, in the city following Saturday's violence, the prosecutor's office said on Monday.

In Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice, curfews began between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday, in certain portions of these metropolises only. Concerning Lille, Bordeaux and Nice, they only concern minors.

In the capital, Place de la République as well as the Les Halles district have been affected since 11 p.m. It has also been forbidden to demonstrate there since 8 p.m., as in other districts of Paris (Champs-Élysées, Bastille, train stations, etc.). During the night, a helicopter flew over the center of Paris with a large beam of light, according to an AFP journalist.

Also read Violence of October 17: discover the map of cities affected by curfews