Far-Right Group, Asylum Seekers Fight in German Town

Dozens of police officers intervened as groups of far-right Germans and young asylum seekers clashed in an eastern German town that has previously seen racist incidents, officials said Thursday.

Around 80 Germans and 20 migrants attacked each other Wednesday night in Bautzen, a town between Dresden and the Polish border, local police spokesman Thomas Knaup said.

Officers were assailed with wooden sticks and bottles thrown by some of the asylum seekers as they tried to separate the groups as they brawled in a town square, police said.

The far-right protesters shouted nationalist slogans and followed the asylum seekers back to their shelter while police tried to keep the groups apart.

Police used pepper spray and batons to protect themselves and to separate the two sides, authorities said.

Later, some rioters threw stones at an ambulance, preventing it from reaching the shelter to treat an injured migrant. Police said they were trying to identify the individuals who participated in the fighting.