The measure concerns the high-school student movement. According to The Guardian, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said he had ordered a temporary halt to the use of grenades in the context of the mobilizations.
The measure was linked to the case of Lens, in northern France, where, according to The Guardian, a 15-year-old protester lost a hand during a demonstration. The available information does not clarify the precise circumstances of the incident or attribute the injury to a police stun grenade.
The suspension comes amid accusations and complaints that police used disproportionate force or committed acts of brutality against teenagers and student protesters. The sources report these allegations without independently establishing that the use of force was disproportionate.
The protests have taken on a national dimension. France 24 reported that on Tuesday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in various parts of France to demand better conditions or increased funding for high schools.
The scale and conditions of the demonstrations are described in differing terms in the accounts provided by the sources. The common picture is one of widespread student mobilizations accompanied by allegations concerning police conduct.
According to France 24, on Tuesday evening President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and other senior ministers. The meeting was described as focusing on finding a way out of the protest crisis.
Lecornu was expected to make a public statement, according to reports by Al Jazeera and France 24. The duration of the suspension of the grenades, however, was not specified: the sources describe it as temporary or linked to the wait for clarification about the incident.