A partial curfew has been extended in Guadeloupe following a series of looting incidents on the island, where nearly a quarter of homes remain without electricity, authorities in the French overseas territory said.
The curfew, imposed on Saturday night, will be in force from 10pm to 5am (3am to 10am today in Lisbon) and covers parts of a dozen communes in the French Antilles archipelago and aims to "prevent the risk of public disorder" following "unacceptable urban violence" on Friday night, the prefecture said in a statement.
The measure was extended for the second consecutive night in "certain sectors" of the island of Guadeloupe, in the southern Caribbean Sea, in response to urban violence following a widespread power outage.
On Friday, the "general curfew" in force across the country failed to prevent looting and destruction, particularly in Pointe-à-Pitre.
In the capital of Guadeloupe, 11 shops were vandalized, including a supermarket, a bank and three jewellery shops "attacked with a backhoe", said the deputy prosecutor, Alexandra Onfray.
At the scene, police were shot at and two people were arrested, she added.
On the other hand, the night was "relatively calm" on the island of Martinique, after several days of violence.
Located almost seven thousand kilometers from Paris and colonized by France in 1635, Martinique has been the scene of a mobilization against the cost of living since September, initiated by the Rally for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC) movement, which has degenerated into urban violence, with several episodes of looting and acts of vandalism.
