German Nazis, opponents battle in Hamburg

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HAMBURG, Germany, June 3 (UPI) -- Some 700 people were arrested in weekend clashes between neo-Nazis and opponents in Hamburg, Germany, police said.

About 1,000 neo-Nazis took to the streets Saturday demanding an end to immigration and multiculturalism, but were outnumbered by some 10,000 opponents from leftist and centrist philosophies, Russia's RIA Novsti news agency reported.

Hundreds of police who tried to keep the two groups from one another were pelted by rocks and bottles and 38 officers were injured, the report said.

Ten police vehicles were also torched, officials said.

Anti-Nazis used hundreds of garbage bins to try blocking the march and resorted to setting them on fire, the agency said.

Police used water cannons to put out the fires and also to dispel the crowds.

Damages from the rioting in the northern German city were estimated to be at least $2 million, officials said.