France has suspended the use of stun grenades for policing student protests that have swept the country, after a 15-year-old’s hand was blown off earlier this week.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said he had requested the pause until the facts of Monday’s incident in Lens had been “clarified”, with conflicting accounts offered by protesters and officials.
Several groups have complained of police using disproportionate force towards teenagers.
🇫🇷 On 5 October 2026, a 15-year-old pupil at the Lycée Auguste-Béhal in Lens, France, lost his left hand with a police grenade.
About 200–250 students had gathered and some threw stones and fireworks at officers; local reports say he picked up a stun grenade to throw it back. https://t.co/lAm4tBEUjT
— ½Man½Rusk 🇲🇿 (@HalfManHalfRusk) October 7, 2026
