PARIS, June 29. /TASS/. Several dozen French law enforcement officers suffered injuries in unrest sparked by the police shooting of a 17-year-old driver on June 27, Interior Ministry Spokesperson Camille Chaize told the RMC radio station on Thursday.

"There were several dozen injured among law enforcement officers. The number of those injured is being specified in some departments. As for protesters, we don’t have data on the injured because most of them don’t reach out to our services," she pointed out.

According to the Interior Ministry spokesperson, the police and gendarmerie were instructed to maintain a maximum presence on the street and pursue a tough approach without giving in to provocations. "Violence spread especially wide last night despite the mobilization of 2,000 police officers and gendarmes across France," Chaize noted.

The damage caused by rioters has not been fully calculated yet. Dozens of burnt police cars were reported throughout the country. Unidentified individuals also set fire to police departments and city halls; public transport vehicles were burned down in some communities. The unrest also engulfed some big cities, including Toulouse. In Lyon, a multi-story apartment building caught fire after a firecracker hit one of its windows; all the residents were promptly evacuated but four people sustained injuries.

Unrest broke out in the country after police shot dead a 17-year-old driver in the Paris suburb of Nanterre who had failed to comply with an order to stop his car. The police officer who fired his gun has been arrested on suspicion of voluntary homicide. The Nanterre prosecutor’s office launched a probe into refusal to obey police orders. As many as 24 police officers suffered injuries in clashes in Paris suburbs after the incident.