Far-right protesters throw flares in front of the National Stadium during the annual far-right rally, …
WARSAW
(Reuters) - Police in the Polish capital used water cannon on Tuesday to
push back several hundred masked men who broke away from a far-right
march and threw stones and flares at lines of riot police.
Nationalist groups march through Warsaw each year to mark
the anniversary of Polish independence, but for the fourth year in a row
the procession turned violent.
When the march, involving tens of thousands of people,
crossed a bridge over the Vistula river and reached the eastern bank
near the national soccer stadium, a group of people broke away.
They tore up paving slabs and benches from a nearby bus
station, and hurled them at police, who were dressed in white helmets
and shields, a Reuters reporter said.
The police advanced towards the rioters, most of whom were
wearing balaclavas to hide their faces, and brought forward a water
cannon truck. They were able to push the rioters back onto the bridge in
the direction they had come.
The Reuters reporter saw one man with blood coming from a
wound to his head, who was being tended by an ambulance crew.