<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Hundreds of German police have used batons and pepper spray to quell crowds targeting an Eritrean cultural festival in the central town of Giessen.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The protesters were angry that the festival went ahead in Giessen, calling it a propaganda exercise by the authoritarian Eritrean regime.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A police statement said clashes took place for hours on Saturday, and that 26 police officers were injured.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police arrested nearly 100 people and had to stop traffic in the town centre.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The police statement said protesters threw bottles and stones at police, damaged some vehicles and ripped down fencing around the festival venue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They also threw stones at buses carrying participants to the festival, the statement said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Video on Twitter appears to show crowds of protesters engaged in running battles with police in the town.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The town authorities had tried to stop the festival going ahead after similar unrest erupted last year, but a local court overturned the ban.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Giessen has about 84,000 residents and lies roughly 50km (30 miles) north of Frankfurt am Main.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The festival is organised by the Central Council for Eritreans in Germany, which is considered close to the Eritrean embassy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In recent years Germany has granted asylum to many Eritreans - they form one of the largest groups of African migrants seeking to settle in the EU.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Human rights organisations have documented large-scale abuses by the authorities in Eritrea, including strict censorship, forced labour and military conscription that is likened to slavery. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>