Corsica tense after clashes injure five

Tensions remained high in Corsica on Sunday after five people were injured and three cars burned in clashes between young locals and families of North African origin, according to police.

Some 500 people rallied in the French Mediterranean island's capital Bastia a day after the clashes in Sisco, on the north of the island.

The dispute erupted between members of "three families of North African origin and young locals," prosecutors said in a statement, adding that stones and bottles were thrown and three cars went up in flames before police managed to restore calm.

A girl who witnessed the clashes, speaking to Sunday's rally through a megaphone, said they began after tourists took photos of several women bathing in burqinis.

According to the girl, whose account could not be verified, a group of immigrant origin youths shouted insults, before several older North African men arrived, carrying hatchets, and attacked a group of young Corsicans aged 15 to 18 on the beach.

Up to 100 members of the security forces were deployed to restore calm, police said.

- 'Intolerable' -

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve condemned the violence, and pledged a full investigation "to shed light on these intolerable deeds and to arrest those responsible."

The clashes come amid heightened tension in France after a string of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, including the July 14 massacre in the southern city of Nice when a Tunisian ploughed a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 85 people.

In Corsica last December, angry protesters vandalised a Muslim prayer hall and trashed copies of the Koran after an assault on firefighters that was blamed on local youths of Arab origin.

The nearby French Riviera resort of Cannes has also sparked controversy by declaring a ban on burqinis -- a ruling which won a court backing at the weekend.

Islamic dress has long been a hot-button issue in secular France, where the full-face veil is banned in public places.

Last month Corsican lawmakers called on the French state to close down radical mosques on the island, hours after an underground separatist movement issued a threat against Islamic extremists.

A splinter group of the nationalist Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) warned Islamists that any attack on the island would trigger "a determined response, without any qualms".