German Police Injured in Clashes with Far-Right Hooligans

Forty-four German riot police were injured in clashes with far-right hooligans rallying against “Islamist extremism” in the western city of Cologne overnight, police said Monday.

Police used batons, pepper spray and water cannon against the protesters, who hurled rocks, bottles and firecrackers at them, a spokesman said.

About 20 demonstrators were detained, he added.

At least 4,000 hardline football fans and right-wing extremists from across Germany had massed under the banner “Hooligans against Salafists”, state interior minister Ralf Jaeger told ZDF public television.

He said the march turned violent when participants refused to clear the area when their event was over.

Tensions escalated and right-wing protesters repeatedly yelled “Foreigners out!”, according to national news agency DPA and witnesses on Twitter.

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The “Hooligans Against Salafists” group developed on the Internet and uses social media to draw far-right football fans and skinheads to often violent protests, purportedly against a rise of Muslim extremism in Europe.

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