British Police on Alert After Oldham Riot Near Manchester

Extra police officers on Sunday are patrolling the streets of Oldham, a mid-England town near Manchester, following a night of violence between hundreds of Asian youths and police.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said there had been renewed "sporadic fighting and stone throwing" in various parts of the town.

More fighting has broke out in Oldham following Saturday night' s riots, during which up to 500 youths hurled petrol bombs, bricks and firecrackers at police lines.

At least 15 officers and 10 civilians were injured, and 17 people arrested.

Shots were fired from the crowd and at times, the bombardments of missiles forced police to withdraw.

Community leaders believe the violence erupted after a gang of white men attacked a shop and threw a brick through the window of a house where a pregnant Asian woman lived in the Glodwick area of the town, a BBC report said.

Oldham, where about 12 percent of the 219,000 population is of Asian origin, has seen several incidents of racial tension over the past few weeks.

In early May, Home Secretary Jack Straw banned political marches in the town in response to fears of growing racial tension.

20 Hurt, 17 Arrested in British Race Riot

More than 20 people were injured and 17 arrested after hundreds of youths clashed with police in northwest England overnight, British police said on Sunday.

Police fought running battles with up to 500 stone and petrol bomb-throwing youths in the streets of Oldham, near Manchester after Saturday night clashes between rival white and Asian groups escalated into a riot in which cars were set on fire, pubs firebombed and gunshots reported.

At least 20 police officers were injured and 17 people arrested after weeks of racial tension between white and Asian youths erupted into violence.

The riots started after a gang of white youths attacked Asian homes in the Glodwick area of the town earlier on Saturday evening. Four people were arrested in connection with that attack.

Asian youths have blamed police for failing to react to attacks from white racists on their communities over recent weeks.

But Chief Superintendent Eric Hewitt denied this. "Tensions have been rising in this borough for some months and extra police have been on patrol but no one could have predicted the ferocity and violence that took place," he said.

He said community relations had been set back but steps needed to be taken to "rebuild trust".

He rejected suggestions that tensions in the town had turned some places into no-go areas for his officers, but said police would maintain a high presence throughout the bank holiday weekend.






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