Christians Under Attack

It was not clear what had sparked the unrest, which revived memories of riots in France's depressed, multi-ethnic suburbs in 2005, the worst in mainland France for 40 years.

Yves Guillot, the head of the Haute-Marne regional government, said between 40 and 50 masked youths used metal bars to smash a firefighters' vehicle and a police car dispatched to a shopping mall in Saint-Dizier.

The youths then fanned out across the town of 30,000 inhabitants, setting fire to two buildings, a car rental office and 16 vehicles.

Police reinforcements were sent in to quell the violence.

Mayor Francois Cornut-Gentille said: "We are trying to understand what happened. We have had clashes in our town but not on this scale."

Interior Min isedter Michele Alliot-Marie was on Friday to visit the scene of the overnight disturbances, some 200 km east of Paris, her office said.

The youths are said to be residents of Saint-Dizier's low-income housing project, Vert-bois, which is home to 12,000 people.

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