Anti-blockade protesters in the Netherlands fired, looted shops and fought police for the third night in a row after a strict curfew was imposed – with a mayor warning that the nation was “on its way” of the civil war “.
At least 184 people were arrested during the ongoing riots Monday night, while at least ten police officers were injured while police in some cities were fighting with tear gas and tear gas, officials said.
So far, riots have attacked at least 20 cities in the Netherlands since Saturday, when the nation was forced to enter its first curfew since World War II.
“We haven’t seen so much violence in 40 years,” NPB police union Koen Simmers told Nieuwsuur television.
Monday’s violence left a trail of looted shops and burned cars in cities such as Rotterdam, The Hague and the capital, Amsterdam, as well as a nearby city, Haarlem, according to the Agence France-Presse (AFP).
About 1,850 fines were handed out for breaking the curfew, along with about 200 arrests, officials told the national network NOS.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte condemned the uprising as “unacceptable”, saying the majority of the nation considered it “With terror.”
“This has nothing to do with protesting or fighting for freedom. Is criminal violence and we will treat him as such “, he tweeted.
According to NOS, Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said the nation “will not capitulate to idiots.”
Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus dismissed allegations of riots that the violence was sparked by the curfew, telling US that “there is no need to rob a store for this.”
John Jorritsma, the mayor of Eindhoven, one of the cities hardest hit by the riots, called the mobs “completely anarchists” the “scum of the land.”
“They are talking about freedom and dictatorship, but in the meantime, they are tearing down shops and the station here, setting fire to cars and police officers at the station,” he told NOS.
“We are on the road to civil war,” he warned.
The curfew, which bans most but essential workers from leaving 9pm until 4:30 am, came as the Netherlands was already under its toughest measures since the beginning of the pandemic. Bars and restaurants had been closed since October and non-essential schools and shops closed since December.
It also occurred as new infections appeared to decrease, but were implemented out of fears of the spread of highly contagious mutations that began in the UK.
Even before the curfew, bars and restaurants had been closed in October and non-essential schools and shops closed since December.
On Tuesday morning, the Netherlands had 966,194 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 13,686 deaths, far fewer than many of its European neighbors, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
With mail cables