New Caledonia's high commissioner said Tuesday that shots had been fired at security forces during a night of riots in the French Pacific territory that saw vehicles torched and shops looted."Shots were fired at the gendarmes using high calibre weapons and hunting rifles.

Security forces have been mobilised and a curfew imposed in the French Pacific island territory of New Caledonia after a general strike and protests over proposed constitutional amendments descended into violence.

The streets of New Caledonia's main city Noumea bore the scars of clashes on Tuesday with traffic blocked by burnt-out cars and smoking piles of tyres Riots erupted over a constitutional reform being debated in Paris that aims to expand the electorate in the overseas territory's provincial elections People in New Caledonia's main city Noumea