France opens ‘attempted murder’ probe into petrol bomb attacks on police

Prosecutors in France have launched an investigation into attempted murder after petrol bombs were thrown at security forces during protests in Paris, as video of an officer in flames provoked outrage.

The probe announced on Sunday came after the Paris police prefecture said several hundred rioters had attacked security forces with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail.

On Saturday, clashes erupted in Paris and other cities as hundreds of thousands of people staged a third weekend of protests against soaring living costs and deteriorating public services.

Video and images from the demonstrations showed a homemade incendiary device exploding at the feet of a security officer in protective gear, engulfing his lower body in flames.

Prosecutors said the investigation was opened for “attempted murder of persons vested with public authority”.

“Explosive devices were thrown at around 15 gendarmes as well as police officers,” the prosecutor’s office said, referring to military police officers who are part of the French armed forces.

While riots were less widespread than two weeks ago, when France experienced some of its worst unrest in years, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Saturday that the level of violence perpetrated by some was “extraordinary”.

An assessment of the injured was ongoing, prosecutors said, adding that the reported injuries included second-degree burns.

The gendarme struck said his unit was “under assault”, with glass bottles, paving stones, shards of glass and firebombs thrown at them.

“We were hit by several significant incendiary devices,” he told broadcaster RTL on condition of anonymity.

“The flammable substance was so greasy that I could feel it spreading across my skin,” he said. “I kept wondering when it would stop because I really felt as though I had been coated by the heat itself.”

The officer, who received minor injuries, said the leg and shin protections on his riot uniform melted.

The gendarmerie said 13 members of the officer’s unit were injured, according to RTL.

No suspects “have been arrested at this stage in connection with the incident”, the prosecutor’s office said, adding that investigators were working to identify those responsible.

More than 770 people were arrested across France, the interior ministry said.

A total of 159 members of law enforcement were injured during protests and Halloween celebrations, it added.

The protests come in a tense political climate, with presidential elections six months away and far-right frontrunner Marine Le Pen vowing to restore law and order if elected next year.

Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party, said on X that those responsible for the firebomb attack must be “punished with the utmost severity”.