France extends youth night curfew in Nîmes over drug crimes

A night-time curfew for young people in Nîmes in southern France has been extended until the end of the summer holidays due to rampant drug-related violence.

The city’s administration said the preventative measure intended to prevent minors from being exposed to the ongoing violence and to calm tensions.

Since July 21, young people under the age of 16 have been banned from walking alone on the streets between 9 pm and 6 am in six neighbourhoods that have been rocked by drug trafficking and violence.

The ban will continue to be monitored by the police, the city said.

Introducing the curfew, Mayor Jean-Paul Fournier had spoken of a “climate of fear and terror” spread by armed drug criminals in the city.

The ban is also intended to prevent young people from being used by the dealers as labourers.

In recent weeks, rival drug gangs in Nîmes have been battling it out, with masked men with Kalashnikov rifles opening fire on the streets. Several people have been injured and one killed.

The killing of a 19-year-old henchman of the dealers, who was discovered half-burnt in the vineyards, was probably intended as a warning to hostile gangs and was publicized on social media.

Videos showed how a person shoots the man, who is still alive, before setting him on fire.

The public prosecutor’s office assumes that the shocking crime is linked to an extremely violent rivalry between local criminal groups.