“We prepared to hold out for several days”, warns the spokesperson for the national gendarmerie

“We prepared to last several days”assures, on franceinfo, Saturday March 25, Lieutenant-Colonel Najima Djebli, spokesperson for the gendarmerie, after the demonstration in Sainte-Soline in Deux-Sèvres against the “mega-basins”. According to the spokesperson, this event brought together “pacifist opponents and radicals who came to fight with the police”.

>> “Mega-basins” in Deux-Sèvres: “The scenes of violence were shocking and appalling” denounces the president of the department

The lieutenant-colonel explains that some of these demonstrators defined as radicals were equipped with “helmets and masks to conceal their identity”. “These individuals also had weapons. We found molotov cocktails, petanque balls or mortars”. On the spot, the demonstrators returned to their camp located a few kilometers from the scene of the clashes, but the spokesperson for the gendarmerie ensures that the police remain on alert. “We are ready to face new actions which are probable. We have 3,200 gendarmes and police officers who are on site. We are resilient.”

This Saturday at the end of the afternoon, the prefecture announces that there were several injuries on the side of the demonstrators, including two serious. One of them was placed in a state of absolute emergency following a head trauma. The authorities are consolidating the balance sheet on the side of the demonstrators. According to Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, 24 gendarmes were injured this Saturday afternoon, including one seriously.