Protesters, cops clash before G-20 summit
HAMBURG: Protesters clashed with police, torched patrol cars and blocked roads in this German city yesterday in fresh violence just before the start of the G-20 summit, police said.
Violent individuals threw petrol bombs and set fire to patrol cars near a police station in the city's Altona district, federal police said on Twitter.
In the west of the city, a "plume of black smoke" rose, and cars in some areas were set alight, the local Hamburg police said separately.
Police said demonstrators had blocked several intersections and so-called transfer corridors - roads designated to help delegations move between meetings.
On Thursday, a planned peaceful march by some 12,000 people protesting against globalisation turned violent.
At least 29 protesters were detained and 111 police officers had been injured as of yesterday, including three officers who required hospital treatment.
Hamburg, a vibrant port city, is a citadel of leftwing radicals and authorities have long been bracing for possible violence on the sidelines of the summit.
The German police officers' union yesterday hit out at anarchist groups called the Black Blocks, accusing them of "hijacking peaceful demonstrations by tens of thousands of people to deliberately attack" police.
A Reuters eyewitness saw at least one protester with blood on his face being treated. - WIRE SERVICES
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