![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/how-kalashnikov-wielding-teen-hitmen-turned-pretty-european-city-into-a-warzone/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/newspress-collage-23613012-1692980787041.jpg&description=Investigation KILL ZONE Published : 11:02, 28 Aug 2023 Updated : 11:02, 28 Aug 2023 ON a chilly night in February, a teenager lies in a pool of blood after being beaten to death by 30 thugs in a high-rise ghetto. The "score settling" lynching was the start of a blood-soaked turf war still raging through the southern French city of Marseille - just a short car ride away from millionaires' playgrounds like Saint-Tropez and Cannes . 12 France's second biggest city, Marseille, has been plagued with drug-related crime 12 Deadly gangs have taken over tower blocks in the northern districts of the city Credit: AFP Fuelled by an intense rivalry between two notorious gangs, DZ Mafia and Yoda, vulnerable teenager footsoliders - dubbed 'Kleenex killers' due to their 'disposability' - have turned parts of the picturesque city into a warzone. Local cops have counted 68 shootings since the start of the year, 30 of which were fatal. Just this month, there were six deaths in six days. As the frightening figures threaten to tip last year's death toll already, residents in the impacted areas are fearing for their lives, with Marseille state prosecutor Dominique Laurens admitting: "It's a bloodbath." Most of the violence has taken place in the northern districts as drug peddlers exert control of "lucrative" locations. Brutal murders and yobs brandishing Kalashnikovs are reportedly commonplace in the tower blocks of Arrondissement 13, 14 and 15. French criminologist Michel Gandilhon, an expert in national and international drug trafficking , told The Sun an explosion in cocaine trafficking is driving a wave of drug-related crimes across Europe. He said: "In terms of the level of violence and the intensity of criminal activity, Marseille is probably one of the worst affected cities in Europe." At the end of 2022, the Ministry of the Interior counted about 127 local drug dealing spots, particularly in the northern districts. Emmanuel Macron's government claimed the supply was being moved){kind=link}
ON a chilly night in February, a teenager lies in a pool of blood after being beaten to death by 30 thugs in a high-rise ghetto.
The “score settling” lynching was the start of a blood-soaked turf war still raging through the southern French city of Marseille – just a short car ride away from millionaires’ playgrounds like Saint-Tropez and Cannes.
Fuelled by an intense rivalry between two notorious gangs, DZ Mafia and Yoda, vulnerable teenager footsoliders – dubbed ‘Kleenex killers’ due to their ‘disposability’ – have turned parts of the picturesque city into a warzone.
Local cops have counted 68 shootings since the start of the year, 30 of which were fatal. Just this month, there were six deaths in six days.
As the frightening figures threaten to tip last year’s death toll already, residents in the impacted areas are fearing for their lives, with Marseille state prosecutor Dominique Laurens admitting: “It’s a bloodbath.”