Spanish police say they have identified at least a hundred far-left extremists from all across Europe who descended on Madrid in order to disrupt this week’s NATO summit.
The hundred far-left extremists, many of them so-called “Black Bloc” anarchists, are said to have travelled to Madrid from Portugal, Greece and Italy in order to disrupt the NATO summit and cause altercations with authorities.
The extremists are believed to be staying in various squats across Madrid and in the surrounding area, where they are being monitored by the intelligence unit of the Spanish National Police, the General Commissariat of Information (CGI), newspaper El Mundo reports.
According to police, the radicals are believed to have been teaching others to commit small acts of violence against police to create agitations and chaos around the NATO summit.
A protest against the summit was held on Sunday and police say that around 60 far-left extremists were among the protests and possessed various items including extendable weapons, smoke canisters, flares and other objects that were seized by police. All of the suspected extremists at the Sunday protest were said to be Spanish nationals.
Spanish Anarchists Released After Allegedly Torching Police Vehicle With Officer Inside https://t.co/03YSNi27iL
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Around 10,000 police officials, including 2,400 members so the Spanish Civil Guard, have been deployed in Madrid during the NATO summit as well as at the Spanish Royal Palace where King Felipe VI hosted a dinner for NATO member leaders on Tuesday. The summit concluded on Thursday, with alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg saying of proceedings: “The decisions we have taken in Madrid will ensure that our Alliance continues to preserve peace, prevent conflict, and protect our people and our values. Europe and North America, standing together in NATO.”
Far-left extremists, particularly Antifa Black Bloc anarchists, have been common at various international summits and have caused chaos and havoc in recent years.
One of the worst incidents of far-left violence took place at the G20 summit in Hamburg in 2017 in which thousands of anarchists rampaged through the German city in an event they labelled “Welcome to Hell.”
A later report from the German Special Police (SOKO) revealed that at least 2,000 crimes were committed before and during the 2017 G20 summit, including acts of vandalism and violence such as 330 cases of bodily injury and 123 cases of arson.
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