German police battle with left-wing youths

German police fought left-wing youths in Hamburg with water cannon and baton charges after being pelted with rocks and bottles during riots after a football match last night.

Police said five officers were injured in clashes with up to 600 rioting youths in the Altona and St Pauli neighbourhoods. Police kept the rioters from moving toward the centre of the port city.

The atmosphere in Hamburg’s anarchist youth scene has been highly charged for days after police cleared an old construction site where some of them were living.