"I decided to open an investigation into facts that could concern the instigators," including "certain members of the CCAT [Coordination Cell for Field Actions, a movement formed by representatives of several pro-independence parties and unions]," the Nouméa prosecutor, Yves Dupas, told a local television station.

On Thursday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described the group as a "mafia-like" and "violent" organization.

On the archipelago, the situation is described as "calmer," with authorities noting a decrease in violence in the French overseas territory in the South Pacific, which has been under a state of emergency.

However, parts of Nouméa remain beyond the control of authorities on the fifth day of rioting against an electoral reform.

"The state of emergency has allowed, for the first time since Monday, a return to a calmer and more peaceful situation in greater Nouméa," the capital of the archipelago, "despite fires in a school and two businesses," declared the French representative in the territory, Louis Le Franc.

The same source reported that three disadvantaged neighborhoods in the territory's largest city, mostly inhabited by the Kanak people, remained in the hands of "hundreds of rioters."

Since Monday, the violence - the worst seen in New Caledonia since the end of the 1980s - has left five people dead, including two police officers, and hundreds injured, according to authorities.

The crisis began with pro-independence protests against a constitutional reform of the electoral college, which was rejected by Kanak representatives.

In the Tir Valley, in particular, Le Franc explained, "hundreds" of people continue to commit "acts of violence" and seek confrontation with the police.

"Reinforcements will arrive (...) to control the areas that have escaped us in recent days," the representative assured the press.

For most of the population of Nouméa, the priority today was to stock up on food, as shortages were imminent.

Lines were growing outside the few stores in Nouméa that had not been ravaged by fire or looted.

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