Tensions remain high in the French city of Dijon after police scrambled overnight to restore calm and order in the area amid a spate of violence from Chechen groups.
The unrest saw more than 150 people, some hooded and armed, take to the streets on Monday evening as tensions over the alleged assault of a Chechen teenager earlier this month boiled over.
Members of the Chechen diaspora have set out on so-called punishment raids seeking to avenge the attack on June 10, according to police sources.
A number of incidents had rocked the city over the weekend, and the violence began again on Monday with people setting fire to rubbish bins and a car.
That came after some 50 Chechens entered the district of Gresilles overnight on Saturday, according to local authorities, and a man who owns a pizzeria was badly wounded by apparent gunfire.
Then on Sunday, more than 200 people returned to the streets in the district with violent intent, police said.
In a bid to quell the unrest, 37 anti-riot police members were sent to the area on Sunday, while 110 additional gendarmes were due to be deployed on Monday.
“The events of the last few days in the Gresilles district of Dijon, where there had been gatherings of youths which had led to vehicles and dustbins set on fire, only leads to more insecurity and worries for the local population, following on from the events of the weekend,” the local police force said in a statement on Monday on Twitter.
The local prefect Bernard Schmeltz - the top state official in the region - meanwhile said in a separate statement that the violence "appeared to be part of a settling of scores between members of the Chechen community in France and residents of Dijon".
In an interview with local daily Le Bien Public, a man claiming to be a Chechen, who was not identified by name, said the raids aimed to avenge an assault by local drug dealers on the 16-year-old.
"There were about a hundred of us from all over France but also from Belgium and Germany. We never intended to ransack the city or take it out on the people," he said.
Dijon prosecutor Eric Mathais said a total of six people had been injured in the three incidents on the successive nights, but no one has yet been arrested.
A probe has been opened into attempted murder by a criminal gang, he added.
French deputy interior minister Laurent Nunez is due to visit Dijon later on Tuesday to monitor the ongoing situation.
