Here is a timeline of the unrest:
Wednesday, 19 October:
- Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy declares a "war without mercy" on violence in the suburbs.
Tuesday, 25 October:
-
During a visit to the Paris suburb of Argenteuil, Sarkozy is pelted
with stones and bottles. He describes rebellious youths in such
districts as "rabble".
Thursday, 27 October:
- Two boys in the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, Bouna
Traore, a 15-year-old of Malian background, and Zyed Benna, a
17-year-old of Tunisian origin, flee a police identity check. They
scale the wall of an electrical relay station and are electrocuted as
they try to hide near a transformer.
- Youths in the suburb, hearing of the deaths, go on
a rampage, burning 23 vehicles and vandalising buildings and hurling
stones and bottles at riot police.
Friday, 28 October:
- Four hundred youths clash with police in
Clichy-sous-Bois, throwing stones, bottles and Molotov cocktails.
Twenty-three officers are hurt and their colleagues are forced to fire
rubber bullets to push back mobs. Thirteen people are arrested and 29
vehicles are burned.
Saturday, 29 October:
- Five hundred people hold a silent march through Clichy-sous-Bois in memory of the dead teenagers.
- Violence resumes at night. Twenty vehicles are
burned. Nine people are detained, some of them for carrying hammers or
petrol cans.
Sunday, 30 October:
- Clashes occur on the outskirts of Clichy-sous-Bois.
Six police officers are hurt, 11 people are arrested and eight vehicles
are torched. A police teargas grenade hits a mosque, prompting anger
among the suburb's large Muslim community.
Monday, 31 October:
- Running clashes between youths and police take
place in Clichy-sous-Bois and in surrounding suburbs. Nineteen people
are arrested and 68 vehicles are torched.
Tuesday, 1 November:
- Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin meets the families of the dead teenagers.
- Riots and clashes erupt in suburbs to the north and
west of Paris. Altogether, 180 vehicles are torched and 34 people
arrested.
Wednesday, 2 November:
- President Jacques Chirac tells ministers: "Tempers must calm down."
- Villepin and Sarkozy cancel overseas trips to deal with the spreading violence.
- Trouble erupts in 22 suburban towns north, south,
east and west of Paris. A handicapped woman suffers severe burns when
youths set a bus on fire. Police say 315 vehicles are torched and at
least 15 people arrested.
Thursday, 3 November:
- A criminal investigation is opened into the deaths of the two teenagers.
- Sarkozy says more than 140 people have been arrested since the violence began.
- The riots for the first time spread to other areas
around France, in Dijon, Marseille and in Normandy. Seven cars are set
alight in central Paris. In all, 517 vehicles are torched in and around
the capital and another 78 people are arrested.
Friday, 4 November:
- Arson hit-and-run attacks take place in suburbs
around Paris and other French cities. A total of 897 vehicles are
torched and more than 250 people arrested.
Saturday, 5 November:
- Paris Prosecutor General Yves Bot says, "We can see organised actions, a strategy" in the violence.
- The rampages take place in suburbs outside Paris
and other cities. At least 70 people are arrested and more than 600
vehicles burned. Police use seven helicopters with lights and cameras
to chase fast-moving youths who set fire to property then flee.
Sunday, 6 November:
- Rioters fire birdshot at police, wounding 10 officers.
- Chirac promises to arrest and punish those who "sow violence or fear".
- Churches are targeted by rioters.
Monday, 7 November:
-
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announces that France
will impose curfews under a state of emergency law and call up
police reservists to stop the rioting.
- Unrest spreads from Paris' suburbs to nearly 300 cities and towns.