PARIS –

A shootout between gangs sparked an overnight clash involving hundreds of people in the city of Poitiers, leaving five people injured, French officials said Friday, highlighting the challenges facing the new government in combating violent crime.

Many French cities are plagued by drug gangs who often operate in low-income residential complexes on the outskirts of historic city centers.

“It started with a shooting in a restaurant. It ended with a clash between rival gangs involving several hundred people,” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told BFM TV, adding that The case was linked to rival drug gangs.

Additional police forces will be sent to the area later on Friday, local authorities in the region added.

Retailleau has pledged to take tougher measures against drug gangs and illegal immigration, as the new government led by center-right Prime Minister Michel Barnier aims to shore up support in France.

Concerns about violent crime have been cited as one of the reasons why voters chose Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party, which says it will do more than other parties to fight crime. crime and illegal immigration.

President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to hold early legislative elections in June and July resulted in a hung Parliament, in which no party obtained an absolute majority, although Le Pen’s party has one of the largest large blocs in Parliament.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Daren Butler)