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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 during the operation 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.
Several activists posted a video on social media showing them in a tunnel, and warned authorities not to bring heavy vehicles to the coal mine area.
“Do not drive into forest or over street with heavy vehicles — the tunnel will collapse! There's an immediate risk of life!” they warned.
More than 1,500 police officers were deployed in the area for evicting anti-coal activists from the village.
Authorities erected a 1.5-kilometer long fence in the area to prevent crossings, and started demolishing buildings which were cleared by the police.
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.
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.