>Chechnya

Military reinforcements were flooding into Dijon after Chechen gangs were filmed firing assault rifles in the air as they prepared to carry out revenge attacks.

Horrifying videos released on social media show the well-armed masked men – who also brandish pistols – in the eastern city, 200 miles from Paris.

The hooded gang members are refugees from Chechnya – part of the Russian Federation which has been involved in two bloody independence wars over the past 26 years.

Unrest has been going on for the past three nights, a Dijon police source said on Monday. Chechen gangs linked to the drug trade and other criminal activity have mobilised to take part in battles with other gangs.

Weapons including Kalashnikovs, axes and baseball bats are being carried openly on the streets, and live ammunition is being fired. People are terrified.

The source said that the trouble was originally triggered by an assault of a 16-year-old Chechen last Wednesday which is being investigated as attempted murder.

The Chechens reacted violently, going into housing estates in vast numbers to see try and find who was responsible, the source added.

The situation in Dijon is now so tense that military and police reinforcements are being drafted in to the city, the source added.