German police use water cannon to stop clashes at far-right rally
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German police in the western city of Cologne used water cannon on Sunday on left-wing radicals protesting against a rally held by about 600 supporters of the xenophobic "Hooligans Against Salafists" (HOGESA) group.
The roughly 10,000 counter-demonstrators vastly outnumbered those at the HOGESA rally itself where speakers called for Germany's borders to be closed and a ban on building mosques.
Germany is struggling to cope with the arrival of an expected 800,000 to 1 million refugees and migrants this year, many from war zones in the Middle East, and politicians have expressed concern about a potential rise in right-wing radicalism.
At the event in Cologne, scuffles broke out between police and left-wingers before water cannon were turned on to separate the two sides, said police.
