Muslim butcher’s shop sprayed with bullets in Corsica

AJACCIO, France: The front window of a Muslim butcher’s shop was sprayed with bullets during the night on the French island of Corsica, where communal tensions have flared in recent months, local prosecutor Eric Bouillard said Wednesday.

The shop, in the centre of the resort town of Propriano, was “hit with a torrent of heavy-weapons fire,” said Bouillard. No one was injured.

Corsica, known as the “Isle of Beauty” for its turquoise waters and picturesque mountains, was rocked by anti-Arab riots over Christmas.

Protests erupted after firefighters and a police officer called to a low-income neighbourhood, mostly home to North African immigrants, were ambushed and attacked.

Demonstrators shouting slogans such as “This is our home!” and “Arabs get out”, vandalised a Muslim prayer hall and set fire to books including copies of the Quran.

Six people have been charged in connection with that unrest.

— AFP