France suspends stun grenades for student protests after boy loses hand

France has suspended the use of stun grenades for policing student protests, the BBC reported. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said he requested the pause until the facts of Monday's incident in Lens had been "clarified". A 15-year-old boy's hand was torn off after a so-called anti-encirclement grenade was fired in unclear circumstances near the Auguste Béhal high school in Lens, a northern city near Lille.

Accounts of the incident differ. Authorities have said the boy picked up the grenade, which then exploded; students have alleged he was hit directly after an officer fired. According to the local prefect, the incident took place when police were confronted by a group of 200-250 students throwing stones and fireworks.

Nuñez told French radio RTL that the police watchdog IGPN had opened 18 investigations to determine whether officers had been "proportionate" during the demonstrations. He said the government was "here to protect high school students". Several groups have complained of police using disproportionate force towards teenagers.

More than 500 schools were fully or partially shut early on Wednesday, the BBC reported. Education Minister Édouard Geffray told France's National Assembly that 24 schools had been "set alight or vandalised" and would be shut for several weeks, affecting 30,000 pupils. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is due to speak about the school protests in an evening address.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on Tuesday to call for better school conditions. In some cities, tear gas and water cannon were deployed. The interior ministry said 488 people were arrested and 43 members of the security forces were hurt.

Jean-Paul Nascimento, national secretary of policing union UNSA, told FranceInfo he was sceptical about the suspension, saying it had been based "on emotion". He said: "We are dealing with increasingly violent people," and that without the weapon to disperse crowds there may be more clashes at close quarters and "perhaps even more injuries". Concerns have also been raised by the case of a 14-year-old hit in the face with a tear gas grenade last week; his lawyer said he lost several teeth and suffered a fractured jaw in the incident at Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, north-west of Paris, and a police officer has been charged.