French police have vowed to revolt if the government fails to restore order amid the riots, which have spread from Paris across the country.
Chaos has ruled for four days with initial protesting descending into looting and arson after a 17-year-old boy - identified as Nahel M - was shot dead by officers on Tuesday morning.
Tonight, police said they were “at war” with “savage hordes” of rioters and two of the top unions representing officers threatened to revolt unless President Emmanuel Macron stepped in.
“Today the police are in combat because we are at war. Tomorrow we will enter resistance and the government should be aware of this,” they said.
Rioters have erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades.
There are fears there will be more trouble at the funeral of Nahel, which is set to take place in Paris on Saturday.
More than 6,000 fires have been started on public roads during the unrest.
Video shows police in riot gear as they prepare for another night of clashes.
Armed police units are following the angry demonstrators across the city.
Dozens of them were arrested as litter bins were set on fire and shop fronts smashed tonight.
There was a series of ‘cat and mouse’ battles as the police tried to contain the protests.
A convoy of 25 police vans followed the trouble.
Exhausted officers were given water by bar owners.
Gangs in the Parisian Nanterre torched businesses today as they painted slogans on walls in support of him.
In surreal contrast, rich American tourists walk by wheeling expensive Louis Vuitton suitcases to check in at nearby hotels as firefighters put out blazes, and armed police arrested protesters.
On one side of the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, gangs smashed up the Franprix supermarket and the Credit Mutuel bank. While on the other side, two well-dressed elderly French ladies double kissed as they met walking their poodles.
Staff at Agency du Parc estate agency stood outside sobbing. They had left their office at 5pm on Thursday as usual but by 9am yesterday it had been looted.
Nanterre Mayor Patrick Harry said the country needed to “push for changes” in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. He said: “There’s a feeling of injustice in many residents’ minds, whether it’s about school achievement, getting a job, access to culture, housing and other life issues.
“I believe we are in that moment when we need to face the urgency of the situation.”
It comes as British travellers have been warned about the risk of curfews and travel restrictions in the city.
The Foreign Office noted protests in Paris and other locations have “turned violent with shops, public buildings and parked cars all targeted”.
It warned the unrest “may lead to disruptions to road travel or targeting of parked cars in areas where protests take place”.
The advice urged travellers to “monitor the media, avoid protests, check the latest advice with operators when travelling and follow the advice of the authorities”.
While Macron, 45, has been criticised after he was pictured dancing at an Elton John concert last night as brave emergency service personnel put their lives at risk.
Macron's government has today placed a ban on all upcoming major public gatherings that could “pose a risk to public order”.
An estimated 45,000 police have been deployed.
Meanwhile, security will be beefed up during the upcoming Tour de France bike race, which is due to start in Spain on Saturday.
Macron has also urged parents to keep teenagers at home and blamed social media for fuelling rioting that has spread dramatically since the tragedy.
In the face of a growing crisis that hundreds of arrests and massive police deployments have failed to quell, Macron held off on declaring a state of emergency, an option that was used in similar circumstances in 2005.
Instead, his government ratcheted up its law enforcement response with an extra 5,000 officers this evening, with some called back from holiday.
The minister, Gerald Darmanin, said police made 917 arrests on Thursday alone and noted their young age - 17 on average. He said more than 300 police officers and firefighters have been injured.
Darmanin also ordered a nationwide nighttime shutdown of all public buses and trams, which were among the targets of three consecutive nights of urban unrest.
And he said that in a meeting with social networks, he had delivered a warning that they can't allow themselves to be used as channels for calls to violence.
"They were very cooperative. We'll see tonight if they really are. We are going to give them as much information as possible" so that, in return, French authorities get the identities of people who incite violence, the minister explained.
"We will pursue every person who uses these social networks to commit violent acts," he said. "And we will take all necessary measures if we become aware that social networks, whoever they are, don't respect the law."
Macron, too, zeroed in on social media platforms that have relayed dramatic images of cars and buildings being torched and other acts of violence.
Social networks are playing a "considerable role" in the violence, he said. Singling out Snapchat and TikTok by name, he said the platforms were being used to organise unrest and serving as conduits for copycat violence.
Macron said his government would work with technology companies to establish procedures for "the removal of the most sensitive content." He did not specify the content he had in mind but said, "I expect a spirit of responsibility from these platforms."
Snapchat spokesperson Rachel Racusen said the company has increased its moderation since Tuesday to detect and act on content related to the rioting in France.
"Violence has devastating consequences, and we have zero tolerance for content that promotes or incites hatred or violent behavior on any part of Snapchat," Racusen said.
The police shooting of the teenager in Nanterre on the outskirts of Paris was captured on video.
The boy's death has shocked France and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Shortly after 9am on Tuesday he was fatally shot in the chest, point-blank, at the wheel of a Mercedes car for driving off during a police traffic check.
The teen - of Algerian descent - had been working as a takeaway driver and played rugby league.
He was a “well-liked child” who had been studying for an electrician’s certificate.
His mother Mounia Merzouk attended a commemoration march in Nanterre on Thursday.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne described the rioting as “unbearable and inexcusable”.
She pledged her support for police and other emergency services who are working “with courage”.
Macron said a third of the individuals arrested last night were "young people, sometimes very young," and that "it's the parents' responsibility" to keep their children at home.
"We sometimes have the feeling that some of them are living out, in the streets, the video games that have intoxicated them," he said of rioters.
The unrest comes just over a year before Paris and other French cities rattled by violence are due to host 10,500 Olympians and millions of visitors for the summer Olympic Games.
The Paris 2024 organising committee said it was closely monitoring the situation and that preparations for the Olympics continued.
Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache said officers tried to pull Nahel over because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane. He allegedly ran a red light to avoid being stopped and then got stuck in traffic.
The police officer accused of pulling the trigger was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude that the officer's use of his weapon wasn't legally justified.
Preliminary charges mean investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial.
The officer said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car as Nahel attempted to flee, according to the prosecutor.
Across the country, officials said 249 police officers and gendarmes had been injured.
Almost 200 government buildings were vandalised including 79 police and paramilitary stations, 34 town halls and 28 schools.
