Migrants Clash with Police in Rome

MILAN (AP) -- Migrants have thrown rocks, bottles and gas cans at police in riot gear who were clearing about 100 people from a Rome piazza that has been occupied since 2013.

Police responded with hoses during the dawn operation Thursday, both to clear the piazza and to extinguish fires set in trash cans.

They said that the operation was necessitated by the migrants' refusal to accept city-organized lodging and because of the risk presented by the presence of cooking gas canisters and other flammable materials in the piazza surrounded by apartment buildings. Two people have been detained.

Authorities began to clear the piazza of some 800 migrants on Saturday, finding lodging for many. It is among four major evictions since July conducted as a security measure.

(KA)