Police on Saturday fired tear gas and used water cannon to clear a rally in Cologne of the far-right xenophobic PEGIDA movement, after protesters hurled firecrackers and bottles at officers.
Sirens wailed and police told peaceful protesters to leave as they deployed water cannon to disperse the increasingly agitated crowd.
The initially peaceful rally against a shocking spate of sexual assaults during New Year's festivities in Cologne took an ugly turn when a group of far-right extremists began flinging projectiles at officers.
Police estimate that around 800 hooligans were among the 1,700 who took part in the PEGIDA march.
A PEGIDA spokesman urged "all participants to go home".
"The event is officially over," he said.
PEGIDA, which started life over a year ago as a Facebook group, has seen a revival as concerns grow over Germany's ability to cope with the 1.1 million asylum seekers it took in alone last year.
Police on Saturday fired tear gas and used water cannon to clear a rally in Cologne of the far-right xenophobic PEGIDA movement, after protesters hurled firecrackers and bottles at officers.
Sirens wailed and police told peaceful protesters to leave as they deployed water cannon to disperse the increasingly agitated crowd.
The initially peaceful rally against a shocking spate of sexual assaults during New Year’s festivities in Cologne took an ugly turn when a group of far-right extremists began flinging projectiles at officers.
Police estimate that around 800 hooligans were among the 1,700 who took part in the PEGIDA march.
A PEGIDA spokesman urged “all participants to go home”.
“The event is officially over,” he said.
PEGIDA, which started life over a year ago as a Facebook group, has seen a revival as concerns grow over Germany’s ability to cope with the 1.1 million asylum seekers it took in alone last year.
