Right-wing protests, counter-protests staged in Cologne

The counter-demonstrators came from a wide range of groupings, from far-left activists to politicians, representatives of local organisations and a Catholic workers’ union, the reporter said.

It is made up of self proclaimed football hooligans, right- wing militants and neo-Nazis and is a more radical off-shoot of the anti-Islam PEGIDA group(Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) which last week held its biggest rally in months in the city of Dresden.

After officers clashed with counter-protesters, the powerful water cannons were used to separate the two sides, according to police.

The anti-Islam group Hooligans Against Salafists (HoGeSa) were able to bring out about 1,000 supporters, who remained penned in at a fixed location and were searched by police for guns, weapons and alcohol as they entered the area.

And a police officer also received slight cuts when stones were thrown at a patrol auto.

Traffic in the city centre was disrupted, with streets and the Deutz bridge over the Rhine cordoned off.

Up to one million refugees are expected to reach Germany this year from conflict-ridden Middle Eastern countries, while several right-wing groups are protesting against their arrival. Reker was later elected mayor of the western German city.

Forty-four riot police were injured when protesters hurled rocks, bottles and firecrackers at them.

Police have reported a spike in racist attacks against refugees, with 285 offences against asylum seekers’ shelters reported in the third quarter alone, compared with 198 for the whole of previous year.