France, July 20 -- An elite "snatch squad" of police is scheduled to stay in Limoges, south-western France, on Sunday after hundreds of masked rioters wielding iron bars and baseball bats rampaged along a road attacking cars and clashing with security forces.

The horde descended on the RN141 on the outskirts of Limoges city centre and tried to block the road during a battle with police in which nine officers were injured

"They're organised, structured, there's a plan, weapons," said Limoges mayor Emile Roger Lombertie.

"This was not a spontaneous protest to complain about something. No pretext, nothing. It's about destroying things and showing the territory belongs to you.

"They're an urban guerrilla group," Lombertie added.

The clas...