French marines are patrolling New Caledonia, which local authorities say is "calmer" after days of deadly riots, but concerns are mounting about access to medical care and food on the island.
Fewer violent incidents were reported on Friday local time as 1,000 additional security forces were deployed on New Caledonia to support the 1,700 personnel that had been stretched by days of unrest.
France's High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said operations to supply food and medicine to the public will begin with teams, including specialists in mine clearing, removing road barricades that have been booby trapped by activists.
"Reinforcements will arrive massively, immediately [and will be] deployed to control the areas which have escaped our control in recent days … to reconquer all the areas of the urban area which we have lost," Mr Le Franc said.
The state of emergency declared by Paris on Thursday morning local time had imposed "a calmer and more peaceful situation" around the capital Noumea, the French High Commission said in a statement early on Friday local time.
On Friday morning, AFP journalists saw flames and smoke pouring from a shopping centre, smouldering buildings, dozens of burned-out cars and residents dragging the remnants of vehicles off the roads.
Tourists have reported barricading themselves inside for days and making their own weapons in preparation to defend themselves amid the unrest.
Troops were stationed at ports and at the international airport, which remains closed, and were seen moving through the capital Noumea in red berets, toting rifles, gas masks and riot shields.
Journalists from AFP and NC la 1ère were reportedly targeted by rioters while working in Noumea on Friday.
Hundreds of people lined up outside shops for desperately needed food and supplies, although authorities have promised to bring in essential goods.
The New Caledonia government said on Friday the island had stocks of food for two months and the problem was distribution.
Five people including two police officers have been killed since unrest broke out over support for voting reform in the French territory.
One suspect in an unspecified homicide handed himself in to police and a second has been arrested on suspicion of killing two Kanaks.
Mr Le Franc confirmed that a 6am-6pm curfew — that had been in place in the capital Noumea — had been extended to cover the entire island.
The overnight curfew will stay in effect for the duration of the state of emergency, which will be in place for at least 11 days.
"Exceptions to this curfew include essential public service personnel, urgent medical travel, and critical night-time activities," Mr Le Franc said.
He said curfew violations would result in penalties of up to six months in prison and a fine, urging everyone to follow the regulations and help restore order.
Paris blames radicals for riots
French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti has called on prosecutors to "take the strongest possible action against the perpetrators of the violence" and also indicated he was considering transferring the "criminals" to mainland France.
The Noumea public prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation targeting "the instigators" of the riots.
Paris has accused a group known as CCAT, which gathers the most radical separatists, of being behind the riots.
On Friday CCAT issued a statement calling for "a time of calm to break the spiral of violence".
CCAT member Rock Haocas told broadcaster RFI that the group "did not call for violence or for destruction".
There have been decades of tensions on the archipelago between Indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonisers who want to remain part of France.
Clashes erupted Monday local time following protests over voting reforms that passed in the National Assembly in Paris.
Lawmakers approved changes to the French constitution, spearheaded by the government of President Emmanuel Macron, that would allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections.
Critics say any such move would dilute the vote of the indigenous Kanak population.
Medical services stretched
France's EFS blood supply agency said that supplies of blood were being sent over to deal with the "critical" situation.
President of the medical commission at Noumea's Territorial Hospital Center, Thierry de Greslan, said that people may have died due to a lack of medical care.
"We estimate that three or four people may have died due to lack of access to medical care," Mr de Greslan said.
He said that around 50 dialysis patients had been unable to receive their treatments, with the situation being made difficult by blockades and debris from the riots being littered on roads across Noumea.
"We are having great difficulty bringing our patients and healthcare workers in. Teams have been working since Monday and are exhausted."
The number of visits to emergency rooms dropped significantly, with a 50 per cent decrease recently and an 80 per cent reduction on Thursday.
"We are in an urban guerilla situation with nightly gunshot wounds," he said.
Mr de Greslan said the hospital's operating rooms were running around the clock, and while the staff are prepared for immediate crises, he was concerned about the future.
"We are ready to face this, but I worry about the 'rebound' effect on patients not currently receiving care and who are extremely stressed," he said.
At least 60 members of the security forces were injured and 214 people were arrested over clashes with police, arson and looting.
TikTok ban challenged
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced a ban on TikTok on the island this week, amid concerns the app was being used by those opposed to French rule to communicate and organise violent protests.
TikTok said the decision was "regrettable" and said it was taken without "any request from the local authorities or the French government to take down content."
It remains unclear what impact the ruling had on the riots in New Caledonia, but two organisations are challenging the ban.
The Human Rights League (LDH) and the La Quadrature du Net association have launched a legal challenge seeking to have the government's ruling overturned.
"The French government struck an unprecedented and particularly serious blow to freedom of expression online, which neither the local context nor the toxicity of the platform can justify," the La Quadrature du Net association said in a statement.
Media lawyer Amelie Tripet told AFP the French government made the decision under rules dating back to 1955 that govern any state of emergency.
The law says that France's minister of the interior can block any communications service involved in planning or advocating "terrorism".
But she said to justify such an "exceptional measure" it would have to be limited in duration and well justified.
"If this were ever challenged before a judge, there would be three questions: Was it permitted under the law? Was it necessary? Was it proportionate?" Ms Tripet said.
"It is potentially a legally fragile decision."
AP/ABC/AFP
