Hong Kong police remove more barricades
October 17, 2014
Hong Kong police officers descended on a pro-democracy protest zone early Friday to remove barricades in a dawn raid.
Officers wearing riot helmets removed tents and canopies in the densely populated Mong Kok shopping district (pictured above), an offshoot protest zone across the Victoria Harbor from the main occupied area in the city's financial district.
Officers surrounded around 30 protesters, who failed to put up a resistance.
Ongoing police operation
It's the latest in a series of police operations to dismantle barricades after nearly three weeks of protests.
Early Wednesday, protesters attempted to stand their ground as police moved through to clear Lung Wo Road, a major east-west arterial road near government headquarters.
Activists had blocked the underpass with concrete slabs and metal barricades, among other objects.
Local media and eye witnesses reported violence had broken out between security forces and demonstrators, with accounts of officers punching and kicking some of the participants. Both sides reported injuries.
At least 45 people, including 37 men and 8 women, were detained for obstructing the police.
On Tuesday, there were also scenes of unrest as police officers used sledgehammers and chainsaws to tear down barricades in Hong Kong's financial center.
The protesters want China's government to drop plans for a pro-Beijing committee to screen candidates in the territory's first direct elections in 2017.
They had also called for the resignation of Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, Leung Chun-ying.
But Leung said there was "almost zero chance" that China's government would change its rules for the 2017 vote.
lw/av (AP, AFP, Reuters)