The rioting in the Mirail area of the southern city, a high-crime neighborhood once home to several extremists, was apparently sparked by the death of a local man in prison and an identity check by police on a veiled woman on Sunday.
After nearly four hours of clashes on Sunday night that saw gangs throw stones at the local police station and set fire to about 10 cars, violence flared again on Monday night.
Local police chief Arnaud Bavois said that an identity check on a fully veiled woman on Sunday exacerbated the tensions after she refused to show her papers to officers.
