Several clashes erupt outside Eritrean event in west end

There was a heavy police presence outside the Lithuanian Banquet Hall on Bloor Street West as two groups clashed over an event taking place inside the building celebrating Eritrea’s independence.

Several clashes erupted between anti-government protesters opposing the event and those attempting to enter the building. Police moved in on several occasions to keep the two sides apart.

No injuries were reported and police said no arrests were made.

“We came here to protest peacefully, we don’t really have any intention to be aggressive against anybody. But as you can see, they are also from inside responding, giving nonsense gestures against the youths to provoke them,” a spokesperson for the protesters told CityNews.

“These youths who are opposing the government, they call them not Eritreans and they call them names – it’s easy to provoke them.”

CityNews attempted to speak with a representative of the event but they declined our request.

The anti-government protesters say the event benefits the Eritrean government, which has been described by human rights groups as one of the world’s most repressive.

The protest comes less than a month after a violent protest at Earlscourt Park during a three-day Eritrean festival which sent nine people to hospital.

Rival Eritrean groups clash in Israel

Saturday’s protest comes on the same day hundreds of Eritrean government supporters and opponents clashed with each other and with Israeli police, leaving dozens injured in one of the most violent street confrontations among African asylum seekers and migrants in Tel Aviv in recent memory.

Among those hurt were 30 police officers and three protesters hit by police fire.

Eritreans from both sides faced off with construction lumber, pieces of metal, rocks and at least one axe, tearing through a neighbourhood of south Tel Aviv where many asylum seekers live. Protesters smashed shop windows and police cars, and blood spatter was seen on sidewalks. One government supporter was lying in a puddle of blood in a children’s playground.

Israeli police in riot gear shot tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters, who broke through barricades and hurled chunks rocks at the police. Police said officers resorted to live fire when they felt their lives were in danger.

The clashes came as Eritrean government supporters marked the 30th anniversary of the current ruler’s rise to power.

Files from The Associated Press were used in this report