Police in the German port of Rostock say 146 officers were injured yesterday in clashes with anti-globalisation protesters after marches against next week's G8 protest in nearby Heiligendamm.
German police clashed with hundreds of protesters in the town yesterday following a much larger peaceful demonstration against next week's summit.
About 2,000 protesters, alleged by police to be violent activists, threw bottles, sticks and stones at riot police, who tried to disperse the crowd in the harbour area with water cannons and tear gas.
Witnesses for Reuters news agency saw dozens of arrests but police declined to comment on numbers.
The violence, which police say left 146 officers injured, followed a series of marches through the city in which police said about 25,000 people took part. This was fewer than the 100,000 predicted by organisers, who said 80,000 people were present.
"There was a massive outbreak against police officers. Stones were thrown and they used sticks too," said a police spokeswoman. She could not confirm how many were detained.
Earlier, a diverse group of protesters marched through an overcast Rostock with banners with slogans ranging from "Stop Privatisation!", to "World Peace Now!" and "Water Is A Human Right!".
Many wore face masks of US president George W Bush and Russian president Vladimir Putin. Both will join German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other G8 leaders in Heiligendamm, around 25 km (16 miles) west of Rostock, next week for talks that will touch on climate change and African poverty.