More than 1 000 police officers were deployed in the poor Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel to stop rioting youths. Photo by BGNES
Riots have broken out for a third night in the poor French suburbs as violence is spreading despite the heavy police presence.
Youths in the northern Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel and the southern city of Toulouse torched cars and clashed with the police forces Tuesday night despite the fact authorities deployed more than 1 000 police officers to stop rioting.
More than 120 policemen were injured, four of them seriously, in the three consecutive nights of unrest, after two teenagers died on Sunday when their motorbike collided with a police car in Villiers-le-Bel.
Rioting youths have hurled Molotov cocktails, stones and shot at officers. Around 30 people have been detained so far.
France PM Francois Fillon vowed to "do everything" to stop violence from spreading.
The riots are worse than those during the weeks of clashes in France's poor suburbs in 2005 as firearms are frequently used this time, police have said.
The French president Nicolas Sarkozy called for calm from China where he is on official visit.