There were 480 attacks on French police last month, a 30 per cent rise over the previous month.

Assaults are increasingly premeditated, with young men preparing sacks of stones and Molotov cocktails in advance, luring police with an alarm or phone call, then blocking escape routes. Revenge for a rough identity check, an arrest or a prison sentence is often the motive.

September 19th Two riot policemen are beaten with iron bars by 20 youths in the Tartarêts neighbourhood of Corbeil-Essonne. Captain Ludovic Aubriot undergoes three operations but loses his right eye. "We shall go and find them, one by one. Not one will go unpunished," vows interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

September 25th Sarkozy dispatches police on a dawn raid to Les Tartarêts. Nine young men are arrested. Sarkozy, a presidential candidate, is accused of exploiting the incident for media attention.

October 13th A three-man patrol of the anti-crime brigade (BAC) is attacked in the Orgemont neighbourhood of Épinay-sur-Seine, known as a haven for drug dealers. One officer suffers several broken teeth and requires 30 stitches to the face. Five youths are charged with attempted murder.

October 19th Sarkozy demands trial by an assise court for anyone who attacks police. That night, and again two nights later, police are ambushed in Aulnay-sous-Bois. A policewoman is hit in the face by a Molotov cocktail which does not explode.

October 22th Hooded young men stop a bus in the suburb of Grigny, force the driver and passengers off, douse the bus with petrol and burn it. About 50 youths attack the police who come to protect the firemen. It marks the first such violence during daylight hours.

October 24th and 25th More buses are burned in the suburbs of Nanterre and Bagnolet.