The incident happened outside a local school in Lens amid a wave of unrest that has gripped France<\/p>\n
A 15-year-old school student has had his hand torn off by a police crowd-control grenade during a protest in the French city of Lens. The incident comes amid a nationwide wave of unrest and street violence that has gripped France since late September.
\nDemonstrators have demanded increased funding for public schools and better learning conditions, including more teachers, smaller classes and repairs to dilapidated buildings.
\nSpeaking at a press conference on Monday, Francois-Xavier Lauch, the prefect of the northern Pas-de-Calais department, reported that the teenager\u2019s \u201chand was torn off,\u201d apparently by a police grenade, during a protest outside Behal high school in Lens earlier in the day.
\n\u201cThere was no hand left, not even his wrist, there was nothing there,\u201d one student told BFMTV, describing the gruesome scene. The boy was rushed to a hospital in Lille and was in a non-life-threatening condition, according to officials.
\nLauch stated that violence erupted after an estimated 200 students began hurling objects at police officers who had been deployed to the school to lift a blockade imposed by protesters.<\/p>\n
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Police sources told AFP that the victim had picked up the grenade, apparently intending to throw it back at officers, while an eyewitness account by a fellow protester suggested that the teenager had instead been hit by the explosive device. The local prosecutor said investigators had yet to establish exactly what happened. The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) has launched an investigation into the incident.
\nFrench police have several types of so-called \u2018non-lethal\u2019 explosive crowd-control devices in their arsenal, including grenades capable of dispersing rubber pellets and the GM2L tear-gas and stun grenade. The exact type involved in the Lens incident has not officially been established, although French media have reported that witness accounts and footage appear consistent with a GM2L.
\nAmid escalating street violence across France, Marine Tondelier, national secretary of The Ecologists party, called for a reform of police crowd-control protocols. Jean-Luc Melenchon, founder of the left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed, LFI) party, similarly wrote on X on Monday that the \u201cescalation of police tactics is out of control,\u201d eclipsing even the days of the May 1968 demonstrations.<\/p>\n
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\u201cActs of disgraceful violence, abuses of power, and provocations are multiplying without limit or restraint,\u201d Melenchon said.
\nMeanwhile, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu\u2019s office has accused LFI and \u201cits far-left proxies\u201d of orchestrating the unrest \u2013 an allegation the left-wing party has denied.
\nAccording to French authorities, more than 5,060 people have been arrested since late September. Around 650 police officers, 78 education staff and at least 190 students have also been injured in the unrest.
\nFrench police have repeatedly been accused of using excessive force when confronting protesters. In 2018-2019, at the height of the Yellow Vest demonstrations, at least 20 protesters lost an eye, while several others had hands partially or entirely blown off after being hit by 40mm rubber projectiles or explosive grenades.
\nIn March 2019, then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for a comprehensive investigation into reports of excessive use of force by French police.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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