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Zurich hit by weekend of violent rioting

Police confront rioters in Zurich
Police say they were attacked by rioters with iron bars and Molotov cocktails. SRF-SWI

Seventeen people were arrested after a two nights of rioting at the weekend in Zurich that saw police officers attacked and one taken to hospital for treatment.

Several hundred protestors, described as left-wing extremists, went on the rampage on Sunday night. Their motive has yet to be established.

+ When Zurich was like a ‘war zone’

The unrest began with a rally on Saturday evening and continued the following night, said Zurich police.

Officers were attacked with iron bars, stones, pyrotechnic objects and Molotov cocktails.

Several protesters marched with banners bearing typical left-wing slogans. The riot followed unrest from the previous weekend that resulted in vandalism of property.

In February, police cleared squatters from the Koch-Areal site in Zurich, but there is no obvious link between that operation and the weekend rioting.

Three of the 17 people arrested appeared before prosecutors on Monday morning.

Police are searching for 14 more suspects who are still at large.

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The revolution that set Zurich streets ablaze

This content was published on The social unrest started on May 30, 1980, as a protest outside the city’s opera house turned ugly. By the time order was restored, shops had been wrecked, cars burned, thousands arrested, many were injured and one person had died. “There were clashes every week and fights between citizens and police went on for hours…

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