Violence erupts on Dresden bombing anniversary
Sun, 14 Feb 2010 08:27:08 GMT


Angry protests put Dresden police on high alert on the 65th anniversary of the city's 'Bombing Holocaust' by Anglo-American fighter jets in 1945


Clashes have broken out in Dresden during angry protests marking the 65th anniversary of the Allied bombing of the German city.

As many as 5,000 policemen have been deployed in Dresden to prevent unrest after thousands of right-wing protesters poured into the streets in order to mark the anniversary of the so-called 'Bombing Holocaust' in which British and American bombers leveled Germany's Baroque capital in 1945.

Police clashed with both rightist protesters and their leftist rivals as both groups set fire to trash cans and blocked city traffic. A combined number of 15,000 protesters took part in the demonstrations.

The leftist demonstrators, however, tried to disrupt the far-right protesters as the sparring groups commemorated victims of the war.

Several people have been injured in the scuffles, police officers said.

Security is tight as organizers of the 'mourning march' are reportedly planning to stage a second day of rallies.

Tens of thousands were killed in Dresden during a three-day bombing blitz in February 1945 in which 1,300 Allied bombers targeted the city with more than 3,900 tonnes of explosives and incendiary materials.

The raids remain some of the most controversial Allied operations in the Second World War as many historians have ruled out the alleged need to flatten Dresden since Germany's dictatorship was already in ruins.

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