German climate activists continue protest against coal mine expansion

BERLIN (AA) - Climate activists on Thursday continued their protest in the western German village of Lutzerath amid a heavy-handed police operation.

Fresh clashes broke out in the morning hours as police attempted to remove barricades and deployed reinforcements to enter several buildings occupied by the protesters.

Dozens of activists glued themselves to the doors, climbed onto roofs and into treehouses to resist the eviction.

Environmental groups accused the police of using excessive force against protesters and trying to obstruct journalists.

“Police officers have entered the first floor of Eckardt's barn and are trying to break open doors where people are glued onto. In this way, the police are willingly endangering people,” the Lutzerath Lebt initiative said on Twitter.

More than 1,500 police officers were deployed in the area for evicting protesters from Lutzerath.

Lutzerath was occupied by anti-coal activists for two years and it became a symbol for environmentalist groups demanding an end to the use of coal and fossil fuels in Germany.

Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future, Last Generation and Scientist Rebellion are among the groups supporting the protest.

German energy company RWE is planning to demolish the village with plans to expand the Garzweiler coal mine to extract 280 million tons of lignite by 2030.