A protester stands by a burning barrier set up by protesters on April 12, 2018 at the ZAD (Zone a Defendre - Zone to defend) in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, western France, during a police operation to clear the anti-capitalist camp. In January, the government jettisoned plans for an airport that had divided the local community for nearly half a century, and told the protesters to clear off the farmland by spring. But some of the motley group of eco-warriors, anti-capitalists and farmers who had turned the 1,600-hectare (4,000-acre) site into a utopian experiment in autonomous living had demanded the right to stay put. The government said the main aim of the operation was to retake control of a key road that had been blocked for five years and evict around 100 "of the most radical" squatters from a total of around 250. / AFP PHOTO / Damien MEYER / France OUT