According to the prison's administration, the inmates' protest is not violent, they are simply refusing to return to their cells after their midday walk was cut short.
Initially, the protests erupted following last week's stabbing attack by a former al-Qaeda member during transfer which resulted in the injury of three guards in the prison of Vendin-le-Vieil. Guards unions have accused authorities of failing to deal with upwards of 4,000 recently reported cases of violence against guards.
President Emmanual Macron has vowed to develop an action plan to deal with the situation by next month. The president has faced heat over recently adopted counterterrorism laws replacing the country's two-year state of emergency, with critics suggesting the laws compromise civil liberties.