Story By: Ernest Bio Bogore, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

This footage shows fireworks being shot at a police car during the strict COVID-19 lockdown in a dodgy neighbourhood on the outskirts of Paris causing it to drive away after it is repeatedly hit.

The incident was filmed in Saint-Denis, a commune in the northern suburbs of the French capital Paris with a reputation for violence, and the footage was shared on Facebook by the local police where it has been viewed nearly 100,000 times.

A police spokesperson said: “About 20 people set a trap for our emergency services and police forces by setting up an ambush and lighting fire to a vehicle around midnight.

“Firefighters and police officers were the targets of projectiles and mortar fire.

The mayor of Saint-Denis, Laurent Russier, said: “These facts, under normal circumstances, are already intolerable.

“While confinement is increasingly respected throughout the city and in the Franc-Moisin district, while the vast majority of residents are showing solidarity and responsibility, a tiny minority of individuals are adding hatred to the health crisis. We are outraged and revolted by such actions.”

A spokesperson for police union Unite SGP Police said: “The lockdown is being respected when listening to certain reports, but the reality is quite different!

“Idiots who don’t respect the containment measures in place for the good of all attacked our colleagues with mortars.”

According to reports, the police officers managed to flee the ambush unharmed.

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