More than a thousand vehicles were set on fire and more than 400 people, the majority of which according to sources are illegal immigrants, were arrested in France during New Year’s Eve, the Ministry of the Interior announced yesterday, Thursday (1/1).

In total, “505 individuals were taken into custody,” and in 403 cases the detentions were converted into arrests and pretrial detention, the French ministry explained, referring -surprisingly- to a night that was…“calmer” than that of 2025, since, as it noted, “more limited urban unrest” was recorded.

Last year, however, across France 420 detentions and 310 arrests and pretrial detentions had been reported and the number of vehicles set on fire increased, reaching 1,173 compared with 984 on New Year’s Eve 2025, according to the same source.

Nevertheless, local authorities observed a “less turbulent night in the suburbs than last year and more limited urban unrest,” the ministry insisted, also citing fewer—and less serious—“attacks against law enforcement forces.”

Police officers were targeted with fireworks in various cities, especially in Nice (southeast), Lyon (central-east), Strasbourg (east), and Rennes (west), a source from the service told Agence France-Presse.

About 90,000 police officers and gendarmes, including 10,000 in Paris and its suburbs, had been mobilized from December 31 ahead of the celebrations. This number remained unchanged compared with last year.

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, 125 people aged 17 to 53 were arrested and placed in pretrial detention in the French capital—33 for acts of violence, 15 for group participation in gatherings with the aim of committing violence or causing property damage, 10 for possession of psychotropic substances, and 8 for drug use.