Vehicles set ablaze during protest action in Martinique. (CMC Photo)
FORT- DE- FRANCE (CMC)– A group of special anti-riot police has arrived from France to deal with protests in the French-speaking Caribbean country where violent protests erupted last week over the high cost of living, with gunfire injuring at least six police officers and one civilian.
France sent the special anti-riot police to Martinique where protesters have gathered despite the government barring demonstrations in parts of the island.
The elite riot police, known as the Companies for Republican Security, were banned in the French territory following bloody riots in December 1959. They had been accused of using disproportionate force against protesters, ending in the deaths of a number of young demonstrators.
The force is rarely deployed in French territories in the Caribbean but was called on during riots and strikes in Guadeloupe in 2009.
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