STOCKHOLM, Aug 4 (NNN-XINHUA) — More than 50 people were injured as violent clashes broke out Thursday at an Eritrean cultural festival in Stockholm with at least 100 detained, according to local authorities.
Fifteen of the injured have been taken to hospital, including eight in serious condition. Three police officers were also injured, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported, citing Region Stockholm, the healthcare and public transport authority in Stockholm County.
Around 1,000 anti-Eritrean government protesters stormed the festival event and threw stones at police officers, according to Swedish media.
The Eritrea-themed festival is an annual event held since the 1990s to mark the cultural heritage of the African country, which gained independence from Ethiopia three decades ago.
At present, tens of thousands of people of Eritrean origin are reportedly living in Sweden.
Police said that an investigation has been launched into violent riots, arson, and sabotaging of emergency services, and that they remained at the scene in a suburb northwest of Stockholm.
Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, said in a written statement to the Swedish news agency TT: “It is not reasonable for Sweden to be drawn into other countries’ domestic conflicts in this way.
“If you flee to Sweden to escape violence, or are on a temporary visit, you must not cause violence here. The police’s resources are needed for other purposes than keeping different groups apart from each other.” — NNN-XINHUA
