Massive police presence calms Hamburg tensions

Almost 1,300 police officers were deployed in Hamburg on Wednesday night to prevent violence re-erupting between local Kurds and Muslim fundamentalists. One person was injured in a fight.

“Thanks to a strong police presence and numerous searches, confrontations were largely avoided,” a police spokesman said on Wednesday night.

More than 1,000 Kurds took part in a peaceful demonstration against Isis violence against Kurdish cities in Syria, especially the Syrian-Turkish border town of Kobane.

But some of the demonstrators returned to the St. Georg district, scene of the Tuesday night street battles in which 14 people were injured, and began throwing bottles and stones, police said.

Those fights saw around 400 Kurds clash with a similar number of supporters of the Islamic State terrorist group.

One person was hit in the head on Wednesday night and had to be taken to hospital.

Hundreds of Kurds gathered on the Steindamm road, where street fights had taken place in front of a mosque on Tuesday night, and attacked at least one shop.

Several people were taken into custody or sent home by the police, who also confiscated cutting weapons and blunt instruments including baseball bats, knives and a machete.

Police also confiscated one firearm with ammunition.

With 1,300 police officers on the streets, including around 260 from other states, the authorities were able to accompany the small groups passing through St. Georg and Altona districts.

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