Photo: DPAThe balaclava-wearing radicals known as "black blocs" rampaging through the streets of Hamburg during the G20 summit trace their roots back to Cold War-era West Germany. Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution said in its annual report released this week that black blocs typically seek "direct confrontation with the political opponent or with the police". Led by small commando units, the black blocs serve as provocateurs from within larger, often peaceful demonstrations, with young Germans, Italians and Spaniards among the most frequently detained. The German police officers' union GdP accused them of "hijacking peaceful demonstrations by tens of thousands of people to deliberately attack" authorities. From squats to summitsThe shadowy groups, given the name black blocs by police, got their start in West German cities such as Hamburg and Berlin in the 1980s, and university towns such as Goettingen and Freiburg.

Source: The Local July 07, 2017 15:56 UTC