France: Four arrested after major farm-police clash in Ariège

France has reported four arrests after a major confrontation between farmers and police in Bordes-sur-Arize, Ariège, where officers intervened to end a tense standoff over the planned cull of cattle infected with contagious bovine nodular dermatitis (DNC).

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on December 12 that police took control of the site on the evening of December 11, where several dozen opponents were blocking efforts to euthanise a herd of Blonde d’Aquitaine cows, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Nuñez said that the group included farmers and livestock owners, along with several dozen far-left activists who, he said, played a central role in obstructing officers. He described significant obstruction, including roadblocks and fires, and noted that no injuries had been reported.

The use of armoured vehicles to push aside cars blocking access has sparked criticism, though Nuñez defended the decision, arguing that protesters confronted police and that authorities had identified dozens of far-left militants committing acts against officers. He said the operation was essential to safeguard the livestock sector.

Farmers had been present at the site since December 10, when the DNC case was confirmed, blocking veterinary teams tasked with culling 207 cattle. The protest movement has since spread across south-west France. In Lot-et-Garonne, around 60 tractors from the Coordination Rurale dumped slurry and tyres in a park in Agen overnight.

Nuñez said similar actions had taken place around Agen, Bordeaux and Périgueux, including along the A75 motorway, with groups from the Coordination Rurale and the Confédération Paysanne staging blockades, occupying roundabouts and demonstrating outside public buildings.

He urged protesters to avoid violence and said authorities would not intervene unless offences were committed, while acknowledging the farmers’ distress and insisting that the operations were necessary to protect French cattle.

By Aghakazim Guliyev