MARSEILLE. Clashes broke out in Marseille at the end of a demonstration in tribute to the Kurds killed in Paris, with two police cars set on fire in the parking lot in front of a police station and objects thrown. In mid-afternoon, the procession, which numbered up to 1,500 people, was broken up by the police with the use of tear gas after arriving in front of the Bouches-du-Rhone prefecture, while the police were the target of a heavy barrage of objects.
After the scuffles, some demonstrators set fire to several dumpsters and pallets along an artery in the city center that connects the prefecture to the Avenue de la Canebie’re, from where the march had started. At the end of the avenue, two empty police cars parked in front of the police station of the first district, in the Noailles district, were set on fire.
The police station was also stoned, the prefecture said, and service cars were damaged. Three people were arrested and four police officers were slightly injured, the same source said. The procession passed from the top of the Canebie’re behind large black banners with the slogans “Justice for the murdered Kurds” and “I am a Kurd”, repeated by the demonstrators.