France Suspends Stun Grenades in School Protests After Teenager Loses Hand in Lens

France has ordered a nationwide suspension of stun grenades in the policing of student protests after a 15-year-old boy's hand was blown off in an incident that has intensified scrutiny of the security forces' tactics. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced the pause on Wednesday, saying it would remain in place until the circumstances of Monday's events in the northern town of Lens had been fully established.

The decision marks a significant concession by a government struggling to contain a protest movement that has expanded far beyond its origins. What began in mid-September as high school pupils demonstrating against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and crumbling buildings has since drawn in parents, university students and trade unions, evolving into one of the most serious domestic challenges of President Emmanuel Macron's current term.

According to official accounts, the teenager was injured near the Auguste Béhal high school in Lens, a town close to Lille. Authorities maintain that he picked up a so-called anti-encirclement grenade which then detonated. Student witnesses, however, have disputed that version of events, alleging that an officer fired the device directly at him. The conflicting narratives have become the focal point of public anger and have prompted the interior ministry's own police watchdog, the IGPN, to open 18 separate investigations into whether officers behaved proportionately during the demonstrations.

Speaking to French radio station RTL, Nuñez acknowledged that the Lens episode "raises questions for all of us within the Ministry of the Interior". He said he had requested the suspension of stun grenades until the facts had been clarified. The minister also insisted the government was "here to protect high school students", and stressed that whenever disproportionate force is suspected, judicial investigations follow as a matter of course.

Stun grenades are classified as non-lethal weapons but are far from harmless. When they detonate they disperse small rubber pellets, and anti-encirclement models are designed to break up crowds that have surrounded officers. Their use in urban settings, particularly against young people, has long been controversial among civil liberties groups, who argue that the devices can cause permanent injury when deployed at close range or fired indiscriminately.

The Lens case is not isolated. Last week, a 14-year-old was struck in the face by a tear gas grenade at Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, north-west of Paris. His lawyer said the boy lost several teeth and suffered a fractured jaw, and a police officer has since been charged in connection with the incident. On Wednesday prosecutors revealed they had opened an attempted murder investigation after a 17-year-old protester alleged that an officer "held his head underwater" while attempting to arrest him near a river in the north-eastern city of Belfort. Together, the cases have fuelled claims that riot policing has crossed from crowd control into excessive and sometimes brutal force.

The scale of the unrest was evident on Tuesday, when hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled streets across the country, including in Paris. In some cities, tear gas and water cannon were deployed. The interior ministry reported that 488 people were arrested and 43 members of the security forces were injured during the day's events. Student unions put the total number of protesters at 450,000, while government figures placed the figure above 250,000 — a discrepancy that has become a recurring feature of the dispute.

Disruption continued into Wednesday, with more than 500 schools either fully or partially shut. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was due to address the school protests in an evening broadcast, under pressure to chart a way out of a crisis that shows no sign of abating. Earlier, he condemned violence seen at some demonstrations, noting that since mid-September 215 students, 85 staff and 715 police officers had been hurt, while more than 6,500 people had been stopped or arrested.

The political weight of the moment was underlined late on Tuesday when Macron convened an emergency meeting with Lecornu and other key ministers. The gathering came after nearly a quarter of all lycées were disrupted by that day's protests, a figure that highlights how deeply the movement has penetrated the French education system. Student unions have already announced a fourth round of demonstrations for Thursday in Paris and other cities, raising the prospect of further confrontations.

Union leaders have directed their frustration squarely at the interior minister. Ryad Rani, head of the USL high school union, told French radio: "We are telling M. Nuñez, calm your police officers down and call for restraint." The appeal reflects a broader demand from organisers that the state address the underlying grievances over school funding and staffing rather than responding primarily with force.

For the government, the suspension of stun grenades may buy a measure of goodwill, but it also carries risk. Critics on the right are likely to portray the move as a concession to street pressure, while protest leaders will argue it does not go far enough. The IGPN investigations, the charged officer and the pending attempted murder inquiry ensure that police conduct will remain at the centre of the national conversation in the days ahead.

With another day of protests scheduled and the prime minister preparing to speak to the country, the coming hours will test whether the government can convert a tactical pause on one controversial weapon into a credible strategy for restoring calm — and whether students and unions believe its promises to protect them.