Police Fire Tear Gas As Yellow Vest Rallies Continue For 18th Consecutive Weekend In Paris

French police have fired tear gas against protesters as yellow vest rallies continue for the eighteenth consecutive weekend in the country's capital, a Sputnik correspondent reported

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th March, 2019) French police have fired tear gas against protesters as yellow vest rallies continue for the eighteenth consecutive weekend in the country's capital, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Several thousands of protesters are currently marching on the streets stretching from the Place Charles de Gaulle. They seem to be in a more aggressive mood than during several previous demonstrations.

As a group of protesters tried to storm a police barrier near Place des Ternes, police officers used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

As yellow vest movement supporters, who started to gather at the Place Charles de Gaulle before dawn, continue their march across Paris, some of them are setting plastic trash cans on fire, destroying municipal electric scooters and exploding fireworks. Protesters are singing songs about a crowd heading to French President Emmanuel Macron's residency in the Elysee Palace � and this is exactly where the organizers of the rally want them to come from different parts of the city.

Police have taken measures to ensure security, with gendarmes limiting the movement on Champs-Elysees. A water cannon and two armored vehicles have been deployed to downtown Paris.

The wave of protests started in France in mid-November last year. While the government abandoned its plans to raise fuel taxes, which triggered the rallies in the first place, and introduced other measures to improve the country's socioeconomic situation, protesters continue to take to the streets across France every weekend. Yellow vest protests have been marked with violent clashes between activists and security forces.