In Riot-Racked France, Police Blame 'Urban Guerrillas'

VILLIERS-LE-BEL, France — French police gave warning last night that they were dealing with "urban guerrillas" with guns as the country braced itself for a third night of riots in suburbs north of Paris. Local mayors voiced fears of the trouble spreading to other towns. The violence was sparked by the death of two teenagers in a crash with a police car.

"We were out there last night, and we'll be out there again tonight," one 19-year-old in the Ceriseraie housing project in the suburban town of Villiers-le-Bel, 12 miles north of Paris, said.

He was one of hundreds who have attacked police with stones, gasoline bombs, and in some cases guns, over the past two nights. The violence spread to five nearby areas on Monday night, raising fears of riots in other cities. This happened in 2005 when France was hit by three weeks of nightly riots in poor suburbs around the country in the worst unrest in 40 years. Michele Alliot-Marie, the interior minister, denied that a repeat of the 2005 riots was on the cards.

More than a hundred policemen have been injured since Sunday, six seriously.

One was hit in the shoulder by a bullet from a hunting rifle that sliced through his flak jacket.

Patrice Ribeiro of the Synergie police union said "genuine urban guerrillas with conventional weapons and hunting weapons" were among the rioters.

"Our colleagues will not allow themselves to be fired upon indefinitely without responding," he said. "We are coming close to a catastrophe with the use of firearms," another police union, UNSA, said.

President Sarkozy is to hold a meeting with the prime minister, François Fillon, this morning, along with his interior, justice, and town ministers. He is also due to address 1,800 policemen and gendarmes to send "a strong message to the country on security," according to aides.

Mr. Fillon promised to beef up security and to punish offenders. "Those who fire on the police and who beat a police officer nearly to death are criminals and must be treated like criminals," he said.

In the center of Villiers-le-Bel yesterday, a group of heavily armed police guarded the town hall. "This is far worse than 2005," Christophe, a 30-year-old anti-riot policeman, said, as he stood in full battle dress, including bulletproof vest and tear-gas canisters. "Last time, they wanted to burn cars and buildings. Now they are after us," he said. Youths were well-organized, with small, mobile groups running rings around the police, Christophe said. "Last night, we went into an estate to stop a fire from a car spreading to a building and were quickly surrounded. We literally couldn't get out until reinforcements arrived," he said.