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French authorities arrested 779 people during nationwide protests against rising living costs and inequality over the weekend, while prosecutors opened an attempted murder investigation after incendiary devices were thrown at security forces in Paris, officials said Sunday.
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets Saturday for a third consecutive weekend of protests, with clashes erupting in the capital and several other cities.
France's Interior Ministry reported 779 arrests nationwide but said there had been "no major incidents" late Saturday.
The Paris prosecutor's office separately announced an investigation into attacks on security personnel, including an incident in which a Molotov cocktail exploded near a gendarme, setting his lower body on fire.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez condemned what he described as an "extraordinary" level of violence by some rioters.
Paris prosecutors said explosive devices were thrown at security forces during Saturday's demonstrations, prompting a criminal investigation.
"Explosive devices were thrown at around 15 gendarmes as well as police officers," the prosecutor's office said Sunday.
The investigation was opened for "attempted murder of persons vested with public authority," prosecutors said.
Gendarmes are military police officers who form part of the French armed forces.
The Paris police prefecture said several hundred rioters had attacked security forces with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail, during clashes in the capital.
AFP photographs and video showed a homemade incendiary device exploding at the feet of a security officer in eastern Paris, engulfing his lower body in flames.
Prosecutors said an assessment of injuries was continuing, with second-degree burns among those reported.
The gendarme struck by the Molotov cocktail described his injuries to French television, recalling "skin that stings" and a "rain" of projectiles directed at his unit.
Initial complaints were expected to be filed Sunday.
Despite the nationwide arrests, prosecutors said no one had yet been detained specifically in connection with the incendiary device attack.
No suspects "have been arrested at this stage in connection with the incident," the prosecutor's office said, adding that investigators were working to identify those responsible.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen condemned the attack, describing images of the burning officer as "unbearable."
In a post on X, she called for those responsible to be "punished with the utmost severity."
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Although clashes continued during Saturday's demonstrations, damage to commercial properties was substantially lower than during previous weekends.
Around 20 businesses were affected by the unrest, according to France's Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI).
CCI France nevertheless expressed concern about the consequences of continued demonstrations for retail activity, particularly as businesses approach the year-end holiday shopping season.
The protests, driven by public anger over rising prices and inequality, have now continued for three consecutive weekends, drawing large crowds across France.
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