new night of tensions against the backdrop of clashes between gangs – RT in French

Groups of young people again faced Mamoudzou, shaken for several days by clashes. The forces of order, which should receive the support of the Raid shortly, had to intervene.

The situation remained tense during the night of November 21 to 22 in Mamoudzou, the largest city on the island of Mayotte, after several days of violence between young people from rival neighborhoods following the murder of one of them.

In the north, between the districts of Kawéni and Majikavo, the police kept away several groups who wanted to clash, according to a police source. Turning back, small groups took the opportunity to attack road users, according to witnesses. South of Mamoudzou, police officers from the anti-crime brigade intervened around 8 p.m. (local time, i.e. 6 p.m. in Paris) to clear a roadblock in Tsoundzou, while a group of young people were looking for a confrontation with the police in Cavani.

Around 5 a.m., a group of individuals set up a roadblock before setting it on fire near the court, in the same area. The police quickly lifted the barricade and restored traffic on this road axis, which provides access to Kawéni, the main employment pool on the island, according to a police source.

The capital of Mayotte has been shaken for ten days by conflicts between rival gangs and neighborhoods which left one dead on November 12 – a 20-year-old young man killed with a machete – and several injured. The Kawéni district, where the victim was from, then caught fire after the attack on a school bus. On November 19, 200 to 250 young people from this neighborhood gathered to do battle with those from the Doujani district, further south, according to the police. On November 20, a motorist was stabbed in Mtsapéré Bonovo, another district of Mamoudzou, again according to a police source.

Local elected officials evoke an “unheard of outburst of violence”

The Ministry of the Interior announced on November 21 the dispatch of a dozen police officers from the Raid, the elite intervention unit of the police, who are due to arrive on November 22 in Mayotte to come and support the forces of order. Quoted by Outre-mer La Première, Senator Thani Mohamed Soilihi (presidential majority) welcomed the government announcement, noting that “the police, despite their professionalism, are overwhelmed” by the “incredible outburst of violence” which rages on the island.

On November 18, the deputy Estelle Youssouffa (Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories group, LIOT) warned against the risk of seeing the population do “justice itself”, and even mentioned a possible tipping “into civil war” if nothing is not done. was done to restore order in Mayotte. The elected official linked the current violence to “illegal immigration” and to “delinquent minors” who, according to her, should be expelled.