“A real fight,” BFMTV quoted Pas-de-Calais prefecture sources as saying about the incident.
The violence broke out late on Sunday when around 200 people from the so-called Calais jungle camp attempted to create a roadblock using garbage and tires.
Security officials said police used 300 grenades with tear gas to disperse the crowd, to which the migrants responded by throwing stones, injuring 16 officials.
Some 6,000 people – from Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan – are estimated to be camping out at Calais in the hope of reaching the United Kingdom. At least 16 migrants have died while attempting to cross into England through the Channel Tunnel.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said in mid-October that he had ordered the deployment of 300 additional gendarmes and 160 riot police officers to reinforce the current forces stationed in the port city.
