Youths, Police Clash Near Paris as Unrest Persists

Police clashed with angry youths and scores of vehicles were torched Tuesday in at least nine Paris suburbs as unrest continued for a sixth night, local officials said.

Officers in riot gear fired rubber bullets at advancing groups of youths in Aulnay-sous-Bois, where 15 cars were burned, said the Seine-Saint-Denis regional government. Youths lobbed Molotov cocktails at an annex to the town hall and threw stones at the firehouse. It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured.

Four people were arrested for throwing stones at police in nearby Bondy, where 14 cars were burned, the prefecture said. A fire engulfed a carpet store, but it was not immediately clear whether the blaze was linked to the unrest.

Officials gave an initial count of 69 vehicles torched in nine suburbs across Seine-Saint-Denis, a region that arcs north and northeast of Paris.

The area, home mainly to families of immigrant origin, often from Muslim North Africa, is marked by soaring unemployment and delinquency.

No trouble was immediately reported in Clichy-sous-Bois, where rioting began Thursday after the accidental deaths of two teenagers hiding from police in a power substation.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy -- blamed by many for fanning the violence with tough talk and harsh tactics -- met Tuesday night in Paris with youths and officials from Clichy-sous-Bois in a bid to cap days of rioting. But the unrest spread even as they met.

Sarkozy recently referred to the troublemakers as “scum” and “riffraff.”