Demonstrators ransacked a Muslim prayer hall and attempted to burn copies of the Koran on the French island of Corsica on Friday, police said, following a night of violence that left two firefighters injured.
Tensions had mounted in Ajaccio on Christmas Day after two firefighters and a police officer were wounded overnight in Jardins de L’Empereur, a low-income neighborhood of the city, when they were “ambushed” by “several hooded youths,” authorities said.
On Friday afternoon about 150 people gathered in front of the police headquarters in the island’s capital in a show of support for the police and firefighters, officials said in a statement.
However, some in that crowd broke away to join as many as 600 people who headed for the housing estate where the violence took place the night before.
They shouted slogans in Corsican meaning “Arabs get out,” and “this is our home,” reporters said.
Nearby was a Muslim prayer room and a small group smashed the glass door and entered the place of worship, ransacking it and partially burning books including copies of the Koran, regional official Francois Lalanne said.
“Fifty prayer books were thrown out on the street,” Lalanne said, adding that some of the pages were burnt.
Police were to remain present on the housing estate overnight on Friday, with a security presence around five Muslim places of worship in Ajaccio, Lalanne said, adding that they would receive reinforcements in the coming days.
The break-in was “an unacceptable desecration,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Twitter, while he also condemned the “intolerable attack” on the wounded firefighters.
French Council of the Muslim Faith president Anouar Kbibech said he learned of the mosque attack and the burning of “several copies of the Koran” with “distress.”
The attack on the Muslim prayer hall showed signs of “racism and xenophobia,” French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve said.
Cazeneuve also condemned the assault on law enforcement and safety officers in Corsica, saying he hoped “the authors of the violence would be identified and arrested as soon as possible.”
Corsica Prefect Christophe Mirmand vowed to arrest those responsible for the outbreak of violence over two days on the Mediterranean island.
The Christmas violence came amid heightened security measures for the season in France after the Nov. 13 attacks by jihadists in Paris that killed 130 people.
Grand Mosque of Paris rector Dalil Boubakeur said he was “dismayed and saddened” by the events on Corsica in an appearance on France’s BFMTV, calling for “calm and cool heads.”
About 120,000 French police, members of armed units and soldiers were mobilized on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Corsica is a department of France which held regional elections earlier this month, which had seen the far-right anti-immigrant Front National make unprecedented gains in the first round of the vote.
On Corsica the nationalists won the regional election there taking power for the first time.
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