Paris CNN —A dozen police officers and several protesters were injured Saturday in clashes at the construction site of an Alpine railway tunnel connecting France and Italy. Around 2,000 police were mobilized to the site to face more than 3,000 people protesting the 57-kilometer tunnel project that will connect the French city of Lyon with Turin in Italy upon completion, France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said. Thierry Guillot/Maxppp/Zuma PressAuthorities in the department of Savoie had issued a ban on demonstrations on public roads near construction site. “Can we just take a moment to wonder why these radical ecologists are against the train,” Houlié told Franceinfo on Sunday. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon rejected some protesters being called “eco-terrorists” in an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV Sunday.

---

Persons: Paris CNN —, Gérald Darmanin, Thierry Guillot, Maxppp, ” Sacha Houlié, ” Houlié, Franceinfo, Jean, Luc Mélenchon, ” Mélenchon, France Unbowed Organizations: Paris CNN, France’s, Zuma Press Authorities, EU, CNN, BFMTV Locations: France, Italy, Lyon, Turin, Savoie, Paris, Milan