500 arrested in German May Day clashes

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Source: AFP

BERLIN—(UPDATE) German authorities said Sunday they made more than 500 arrests in May Day clashes in Berlin and Hamburg that left 100 police injured, but that there had been less violence in the capital than in 2009.

In Berlin, around 450 people were detained in a day of vandalism and pitched battles between far-right skinheads, anti-fascist groups and more than 7,000 police. Eighty-four police were injured, including one seriously.

During the day, several thousand anti-fascist demonstrators staged sit-ins and succeeded in forcing some 700 neo-Nazis to cut short a planned march in the Prenzlauer Berg district, while police managed to prevent serious clashes.

Police also broke up an unauthorized far-right gathering of close to 300 skinheads up on the Kurfuerstendamm, Berlin's main shopping boulevard, authorities said.

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