At least 22 police officers were injured on Saturday at an Eritrean cultural event in in in the western German city of Giessen.
Police said they were pelted with items including stones, bottles and smoke bombs as groups of Eritreans opposed to the African nation’s autocratic ruler tried to force their way to the venue.
“Twenty-two police were injured, mainly in incidents of stone throwing,” regional police said.
A thousand police were deployed to the event in Giessen, which has around 80,000 inhabitants. It lies around 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Frankfurt.
From around 5:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT), police attempted to stop over 100 people from climbing a fence leading to the festival grounds.
