French police raided housing estates outside Paris early today and arrested at least 20 people in a bid to find people involved in rioting last year.
More than 1,000 police were mobilised for raids in Villiers-le-Bel and in the neighbouring towns of Sarcelles, Gonesse and Arnouville as part of the investigation into the November riots.
Most of those detained, aged 19 to 31, had been known to police, mainly for previous violence, according to police.
In one raid, about 100 police officers surrounded one building in Villiers-le-Bel across from a library and nursery that were burned down by rioters.
Violence erupted on November 25th and 26th in Villiers-le-Bel after two teenage boys were killed in a motorbike crash with a police car.
In today's raid, police were targeting about 40 people suspected of attacking officers during last year's violence.
AP