Five people were injured and six arrested during a protest west of Paris over enforcement of France’s ban on Islamic face veils.

Around 250 people who were hurling missiles clashed with police firing tear gas in the town of Trappes on Friday night.

A 14-year-old boy suffered a serious eye injury in the violence from a missile. Four police officers were injured and six people were detained in the violence, said an official with the regional police administration.

The violence came after a gathering of about 200-250 people to protest the arrest of a man whose wife was ticketed for wearing a face veil. The husband tried to strangle an officer who was doing the ticketing, prosecutor Vincent Lesclous said.

France has barred face veils since 2011. Supporters of the ban, which enjoyed wide public support across the political spectrum, argue the veil oppresses women and contradicts France’s principles of secularism, which are enshrined in the constitution. In addition to small fines or citizenship classes for women wearing veils, the law includes a hefty €30,000 fine for anyone who forces a woman to wear one.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls Valls urged calm after the violence and pledged to stand against “all those who attack Muslim buildings or our compatriots of Muslim faith”.

But he also came down firmly against those who attack police.

“There is no valid reason for the violence seen in Trappes,” he told reporters in the southern city of Marseille, which has seen a wave of urban unrest. “The law should be applied, and applies to everyone.”