France ‘civil war’ fears with 45,000 police scrambled and nation facing all-out anarchy

France has boosted the number of police on its streets to 45,000 this evening as it braced for more rioting – with one commentator claiming the country was sliding into full-blown “civil war”.

French President Emmanuel Macron also urged parents Friday to keep teenagers at home and blamed social media for fuelling unrest which has spread dramatically across the country since the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver earlier this week.

With hundreds already arrested, Macron resisted calls to declare a state of emergency, an option which was used in similar circumstances in 2005.

Instead, the government increased by another 5,000 officers the number deployed on Friday night, raising the figure to 45,000 overall, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said.

With dramatic footage of widespread disorder circulating on Twitter, right-wing Dutch commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek tweeted: “It seems like France might have actually entered into the first stages of a civil war as a result of mass migration.

Mr Darmanin said police made 917 arrests on Thursday alone and noted their young age – 17 on average. He said more than 300 police officers and firefighters have been injured.

He also ordered a nationwide night time shutdown of all public buses and trams, which were among the targets of three consecutive nights of urban unrest.

And he said that in a meeting with social networks, he had delivered a warning that they can’t allow themselves to be used as channels for calls to violence

“They were very cooperative. We’ll see tonight if they really are.”

The Government would give the platoforms “as much information as possible” so that, in return, French authorities could obtain the identities of people who incite violence, the minister explained.

He warned: “We will pursue every person who uses these social networks to commit violent acts.

“And we will take all necessary measures if we become aware that social networks, whoever they are, don’t respect the law.”

Macron also pointed the finger at social media platforms which have relayed dramatic images of cars and buildings being torched and other acts of violence.

Singling out Snapchat and TikTok by name, he said the platforms were being used to organise unrest and serving as conduits for copycat violence.

READ MORE HERE