France sends the army into Dijon as city is turned into a war zone by assault rifle-toting Chechen gangs mounting revenge attacks on Arab gangsters for beating of 16-year-old

  • Chechen gangs were filmed firing assault rifles in the air in Dijon, France 
  • Horrifying videos released on social media show the well-armed masked men
  • A government spokesman confirmed that Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had ordered reinforcements into the city to deal with the growing violence

By Peter Allen and Milly Vincent For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

France's gendarmerie flooded into Dijon today after Chechen gangs were filmed firing assault rifles in the air as they prepared to carry out 'revenge attacks'.

Horrifying videos released on social media show the well-armed masked men – who also brandish pistols – in the eastern city, 200 miles from Paris.

The hooded gang members are refugees from Chechnya – part of the Russian Federation which has been involved in two bloody independence wars over the past 26 years.

'Unrest has been going on for the past three nights,' a Dijon police source said on Monday. 'Chechen gangs linked to the drug trade and other criminal activity have mobilised to take part in battles with other gangs.

Horrifying videos released on social media show the well-armed masked men ¿ who also brandish pistols ¿ in the eastern city, 200 miles from Paris
The hooded gang members are refugees from Chechnya ¿ part of the Russian Federation which has been involved in two bloody independence wars over the past 26 years

Horrifying videos released on social media show the well-armed masked men – who also brandish pistols – in the eastern city, 200 miles from Paris

'Weapons including Kalashnikovs, axes and baseball bats are being carried openly on the streets, and live ammunition is being fired. People are terrified.'

The source said that the trouble was originally triggered by an assault of a 16-year-old Chechen last Wednesday which is being investigated as 'attempted murder'.

'The Chechens reacted violently, going into housing estates in vast numbers to see try and find who was responsible,' the source added.

'The situation in Dijon is now so tense that military and police reinforcements are being drafted in to the city,' the source added.

A source said that the trouble was originally triggered by an assault of a 16-year-old Chechen last Wednesday which is being investigated as 'attempted murder' (pictured: Scenes in Dijon)

A source said that the trouble was originally triggered by an assault of a 16-year-old Chechen last Wednesday which is being investigated as 'attempted murder' (pictured: Scenes in Dijon)

The hooded gang members are refugees from Chechnya ¿ part of the Russian Federation which has been involved in two bloody independence wars over the past 26 years
Dijon prosecutor Eric Mathais said six people had been wounded so far, but there had been no arrests

The hooded gang members are refugees from Chechnya – part of the Russian Federation which has been involved in two bloody independence wars over the past 26 years

Gendarmes walk in a street in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

Gendarmes walk in a street in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

People walk near burnt objects and rubbish in the street in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

People walk near burnt objects and rubbish in the street in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

Police and gendarmes stand near a burnt van in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

Police and gendarmes stand near a burnt van in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

Timeline of events in Dijon: 

Wednesday June 10: An attack on an Chechen teenager by an Arab drug dealer - now being investigated as 'attempted murder'.

Unverified reports suggest Algerian and Chechen gangs had been due to meet to settle the matter. 

Saturday and Sunday June 13, 14: Tensions flared in Dijon with 200 taking to the streets in a weekend of unrest which saw so-called 'punishment raids' taking place.

A man who owns a pizzeria was badly injured by gunfire.

37 anti-riot police were sent to the district of Gresilles on Sunday night.

Monday June 14: Over 150 Chechen gang members, some heavily armed, took to the streets- burning cars, objects and rubbish.

110 gendarmes were deployed to tackle the conflict. 

Tuesday June 15: Today conflict continues as Chechen and Northern African gangs openly brandish arms.

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Dijon prosecutor Eric Mathais said six people had been wounded so far, but there had been no arrests.

A government spokesman in Paris confirmed that Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had ordered reinforcements into the city to deal with the growing violence.

Francois Rebsamen, the Mayor of Dijon, said: 'What happened is unprecedented and unacceptable.'

He said Chechen gangs carried out three 'revenge' raids on three successive nights starting on Friday.  

Unverified reports claimed Chechen gangs had been due to have a 'meeting' with Algerian gangs to settle the matter after an attack on the 16-year-old - but instead it became a shootout prompting more Chechens from across France to travel to Dijon.

Footage of a seemingly dead man hanging from the door of a people carrier, after what appears to have been a car crash, has been shared widely on social media. 

While several other videos show a shocking display of armoury from various gangs.

Bernard Schmeltz, the local Prefect, confirmed in a statement that the violence 'appeared to be part of a settling of scores between members of the Chechen community in France and residents of Dijon'.

One attack saw some 50 Chechens enter an estates in the Gresilles are of Dijon on Saturday, where a man who owns a pizzeria was badly wounded by gunfire.

Chechnya is a republic in the North Caucasus. Two wars in the 1990s triggered a wave of emigration, with some 30,000 heading for France. 

Francois Rebsamen, the Mayor of Dijon, said: 'What happened is unprecedented and unacceptable' (pictured: Chechen gangs showing weapons in an online video)

Francois Rebsamen, the Mayor of Dijon, said: 'What happened is unprecedented and unacceptable' (pictured: Chechen gangs showing weapons in an online video)

Pictured is the scene after a car crash in Dijon as France faces chaos with soldiers deploying to restore calm

Pictured is the scene after a car crash in Dijon as France faces chaos with soldiers deploying to restore calm

Police walk carrying a shield and a tear gas canister launcher in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

Police walk carrying a shield and a tear gas canister launcher in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

A picture shows a car on fire in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

A picture shows a car on fire in the Gresilles area of Dijon, eastern France, on June 15

How Chechen enclaves formed in France in the 1990s driven by refugees from war with Russia 

Chechen refugees have become one of the largest groups of asylum seekers in Europe since 2003. Around 8,000 Chechens had become political refugees in France by 2008, towards the end of The Second Chechen War. This has since grown to a population of around 30,000 Chechens in France.

The city of Dijon, a city to the southwest of Paris with a population of 150,000 and is not considered to have a large proportion of the French Chechen population, with most of the diaspora settled in Nice, Strasbourg, Paris, Orleans, Le Mans, Besançon, Montpellier, Toulouse, and Tours. 

Many Chechens fled to western Europe to find a safe place to raise their families and earn a living after their region was battered by two wars. The First Chechen War, 1994 to 1996 and The Second Chechen War, 1999 to 2009.

Russia declared victory in its war against Chechnya in April 2009, the conflict claimed an estimated 100,000 lives and decimated the region for more than a decade.

But Chechnya has remained plagued by what international rights groups have called human rights violations by the Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov's militia, including rampant abductions, torture and murder.

After emigrating to nearby Poland many Chechen asylum seekers look for asylum elsewhere as they fear Kadyrov's men operate freely in Poland and that they could be forcefully returned to the Russian Federation.

Chechnya declared independence from Moscow in 1991, leading to the first war in the region in 1994.

Russian troops withdrew in 1996 under an agreement that left the country de-facto independent, but the region was then plagued by lawlessness and Islamic fundamentalists became increasingly influential.

In 1999, Moscow sent troops back into Chechnya after Chechen fighters invaded Dagestan in the summer of 1999, aiming to form an Islamic caliphate in a sector of that republic.

Since then counterterrorism operations has involved curfews and limits on civilian air flights and limited access for journalists, among other measures.

Though major fighting in Chechnya died down several years ago, sporadic clashes between militants and troops persist in the region and the violence has spun off into neighboring Dagestan and Ingushetia.

 

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