Riots, violence erupt in UK town

Rioters attack police with bricks, hammers and petrol bombs on Saturday

July 9, 2001
Web posted at: 6:07 PM EDT (2207 GMT)

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BRADFORD, England -- Violence flared over the weekend on the streets of Bradford, in northern England. The unrest is the latest event in recent weeks of violent clashes between whites and Asians in northern England towns.

On Sunday evening, a group of up to 30 white youths attacked an Asian restaurant and a gas station in Bradford with baseball bats.

"Suddenly a group of youths started throwing bricks through the window," restaurant director Tayub Amjad, 20, told the Press Association. "...I think it was some sort of stupid retaliation for the trouble we had yesterday."

The isolated violence came hours after police chiefs urged people to stay off the streets after a riot shook the town on Saturday.

Tensions flared on Saturday afternoon following a rally by the Anti Nazi League to protest a planned demonstration by National Front activists.

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Gangs of Asian and white youths fought running battles with officers who were pelted with bricks, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks and attacked with baseball bats and hammers.

The night of violence left 120 police officers injured, two people stabbed and led to 36 arrests. Two police horses were also injured, with one suffering stab wounds.

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The leader of Bradford Council, Margaret Eaton said there was no justification for the riots.

"There is going to be a lot of work needed to build bridges in the community," she said.

Far-right accused

Concerns are mounting in Britain over the growing influence of far-right groups involved in recent riots in northern English towns.

Millions of dollars of damage, hundreds of police injuries, 150 arrests and still-smoldering racial tension are the costs so far of six weeks of violence in towns with large Asian Muslim communities.

Britain's growing racial troubles have been matched by the growing presence in poor urban areas of the far-right National Front (NF) party and a stronger than expected showing in the June general election of the far-right British National Party (BNP).

The riots are set against the backdrop of growing anti-immigration politics across Europe.

On Monday Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said the disturbances were simply "thuggery" and violent protesters had ended up "destroying their own community."

The Anti-Fascist Association, a London-based organization committed to "ideological and physical opposition to fascism", accused British politicians of contributing with "inflammatory language" on immigration.

"Home Secretary David Blunkett and his colleagues have been posturing over their tough stance on immigration, fuelling the far-right and further alienating minority communities across the country," a spokesman said.

Maxie Hayles of the Birmingham Racial Attacks Monitoring Unit said the picture was "gloomy" and that he expected violence to be repeated in other areas.

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