New Delhi:- More than 400 people have been arrested across France after a third night of unrest sparked by the police shooting dead an Algerian-Moroccan teenager at a traffic stop, unrest spread to major cities, officials say announced.

At least three cities around Paris, including.  Clamart, Compiègne, and Neuilly-sur-Marne have been either fully or partially blocked, as a police intelligence report leaked to French media predicted "a future of widespread urban violence at night". A night curfew was imposed. Helicopters and drones were deployed in the neighboring cities of Lille and Tourcoing in the north of the country, where bans on gatherings were imposed. 

A lawyer for a police officer charged with shooting dead a 17-year-old boy named Neher M. in the western suburb of Nanterre in central Paris said he apologized to the boy's family. “The first words he said were apologies and the last words were apologies to his family," Laurent-Franck Lienard told BFMTV. "He is devastated and cannot get up in the morning to kill people." 

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Lieard said the officer aimed at the driver's leg but was nudged, causing the driver to shoot in the chest. "He had to be stopped, but obviously the officers didn't want to kill the driver," he said, adding that the client's detention was used to calm the mob. On Thursday, a formal investigation was launched against the 38-year-old police officer on charges of first-degree manslaughter, the equivalent of a charge in Anglo-Saxon jurisdiction.

Nanterre public prosecutor Pascal Plasch said on Thursday that Nager died after receiving a single bullet to his left arm and chest while driving away after being stopped by police. Prachet said the officer opened fire because he feared he, his colleague, or someone else would be run over by a car. "The prosecutor's office considers that the legal requirements for the use of weapons have not been met," Prachet said. 

Pratchet said Neher was known to police for violating traffic orders in the past. Local media, citing interior ministry figures, said 40,000 police had been deployed across the country and 420 had been arrested as of 3:30 am on Friday. This is almost four times the number mobilized on Wednesday.

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Interior Minister Gérald Dalmanin calling for "support for the police, gendarmes, and firefighters doing a valiant job" was photographed by French media at police headquarters in Paris early Friday morning. In Nanterre, demonstrators set cars on fire, barricaded roads, and hurled projectiles at police after a peaceful wake and march led by Nehel's mother turned violent. 

Demonstrators scribbled "revenge on Neher" all over the building, and at night the bank was set on fire, after which firefighters extinguished the fire and elite police units deployed armored vehicles.

During the night there were also violent clashes between mobs and police in Lille, Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, Pau, and Montpellier. In central Paris, Nike and Zara's stores were vandalized and looted, and 14 people were arrested, Le Monde newspaper reported. More arrests were made after the windows of shops on the famous shopping street of Via Rivoli were broken.

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In the eastern suburbs of Montreuil, hundreds of young people robbed pharmacies, McDonald's, and other stores, and set fire to trash cans outside city hall. In response, police fired tear gas. 

In the western city of Nantes, a car crashed through a metal fence at a Lidre branch and was looted, Le Parisien reported.

Local media reported that young people in the eastern Lyon suburb of Vaux-en-Velin set off "constant and violent fireworks" at police, while more than a dozen cars were set on fire in Sevran, northeast of Paris. Videos on social media showed dozens of fires across the country, including at a bus stop in the northern suburbs of Paris and a tram in Lyon. 

In Marseille, France's second-largest city, police fired tear gas during clashes with young people in the tourist resort of Le Vieux Port, the city's main newspaper La Provence reported. At least 10 people were also arrested in two districts of Brussels, with police blaming the shooting for the riot.

President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting with his key ministers on Thursday morning after a second night of chaos and unrest across France. "The last few hours have featured scenes of violence not only against police stations but also against schools, city halls, and even republican institutions, which are completely unjustified," Macron said.

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On Wednesday, he called for calm, saying Neher's death was "inexplicable and inexcusable". His comments were unusually candid in a country where senior politicians are often reluctant to criticize the police because of voter safety concerns. Human rights groups have claimed there is systemic racism within law enforcement, something Macron has previously denied. "We need more than just saying things need to calm down," he said. 

In France widespread violence was going on in public and traffic was stopped due to this. Police officials arrested over 400 people during this widespread and reported people from three towns were included i.e.  Clamart, Compiègne, and Neuilly-sur-Marne from Paris.