Police fire tear gas during anti-far right protest in Paris

French security forces briefly fired tear gas in Paris as opponents of the far-right marched in the capital on Saturday (April 16).

Demonstrators resumed their protests minutes later.

Thousands of anti-far right protesters marched across France on Saturday as opponents of presidential candidate Marine Le Pen seek to form a united front to prevent her from winning an election runoff against incumbent Emmanuel Macron on April 24.

Police have warned of possible incidents as demonstrators convene in some 30 cities.

Macron, a pro-European Union centrist, won the presidency in 2017 after easily beating Le Pen when voters rallied behind him in the runoff to keep her far-right party out of power.

This year, the first round of voting last Sunday set up the same battle, but Macron is facing a much tougher challenge.

(Reuters)