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A gunfight has erupted in a migrant camp in northern France, leaving four people wounded after clashes that were thought to have involved rival gangs of smugglers.

Two men were treated overnight for gunshot wounds, a third for stab wounds and a woman for blows to the head following the clashes at the Grande-Synthe camp near Dunkirk.

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Four people were held for questioning on charges of attempted voluntary homicide. Police believe the fight erupted between rival people smuggling gangs against a backdrop of simmering tensions between Muslims and Christians in the camp.

The Muslims are trying to expel the Christians from the camp.

David Michaux, a CRS anti-riot officer from the Unsa Police union, told Le Figaro: “There is a real problem of Muslims and non-Muslims. Most of the camp’s 3,000-odd occupants are Muslim Kurds from Iraq, Iran and Syria but a minority are Christians from Iran.

“The Muslims are trying to expel the Christians from the camp.”

He added: “A unit of gendarmes was at the Grande-Synthe camp [on Tuesday]. They heard shots fired, around 40 according to their estimates.”