The unrest was triggered by the death of a 17-year-old who was shot during a traffic stop on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.
France's Interior Ministry announced that in the latest night of violence, 1,311 people were arrested around the country, where 45,000 police officers fanned out in a so-far unsuccessful bid to restore order.
In the violence sparked by the teen's death, some 2,400 persons have been arrested overall.
The interior minister, defending the mass arrests, said 45,000 police would again be deployed Saturday night, with an increase in the cities of Marseille and Lyon after a spike in violence there.
