Five men were wounded after UK-bound migrants were involved in a gunfight in Calais before a separate incident resulting in police opened fire on a car full of Afghans and Iraqis.
It was at around 6pm on Saturday that two groups of Afghans opened fire on each other close to a Catholic welcome centre in the town.
Two hours later, the single car rammed a police roadblock, forcing officers to shoot at them.
The terrifying incidents came as the French port increasingly descends into lawlessness because of the growing number of asylum seekers trying to get across the Channel illegally.
Customs agents monitor cars at the French side of the Eurotunnel. Five men were wounded after UK-bound migrants were involved in a gunfight in Calais before a separate incident resulting in police opened fire on a car full of Afghans and Iraqis (file photo)
A local police source said: ‘People smugglers are still charging more than a thousand euros for a passage across the Channel, and if money is not paid, then scores are settled.
‘This is why it is likely that smugglers were involved in this gunfight, and why immigrants were wounded.
‘One of the Afghans was hit in the stomach, and had to be evacuated by helicopter to the university hospital in Lille.’
The source said it was common for rival groups to fall out over smuggling routes into the UK.
Hundreds of police moved in to close down the area around the gunfight, as they looked for the weapons used.
Two hours later, soon after 8pm, a single car with nine migrants on board crashed into a police roadblock.
A police officer watches migrants who wait on a road, near the port of Calais, northern France, on August 16, 2017. At around 6pm on Saturday that two groups of Afghans opened fire on each other close to a Catholic welcome centre in the town (file photo)
A source at the prefecture that covers Calais said: ‘The vehicle hit a CRS riot police officer, injuring him in the knee, and this led to other officers opening fire.
‘At least five shots were fired, and the car was brought to a standstill with no injuries. Nine migrants were arrested at the scene.’
The source said people smugglers were among the six Iraqis and three Afghans taken to a secure police station before an expected appearance before a judge on Monday.
He added that the original shoot-out did not appear to be related to the incident at the police roadblock.
Judicial police in Lille are investigating the gun fight, while all those arrested will be dealt with at the criminal court in nearby Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Last week a French police officer was sent to prison for six months for slapping a UK-bound immigrant in the face while he was wearing handcuffs.
Boulogne prosecutors described how the 44-year-old officer with the PAF frontier police, who has not been named, lashed out in August last year.
A French riot police officer stands guard after migrants tried to mount several trucks on the A16 motorway near the site of the Eurotunnel in Coquelles, near Calais, northern France on January 21, 2016. The terrifying incidents came as the French port increasingly descends into lawlessness because of the growing number of asylum seekers trying to get across the Channel illegally
A year ago, the so-called Jungle refugee camp in Calais was razed, and some 8,000 migrants were dispersed to other parts of France.
Some have since returned, and continue to make efforts to reach the coast of England, where they want to claim asylum.
Police and local authorities have meanwhile reported an increasingly dangerous situation, with fights regularly breaking out.
There are not up to 1,000 migrants sleeping rough in and around Calais, the majority of them young men.