Protesters representing women's rights, right-wing anti-Islam and left-wing groups demonstrated in the streets of Cologne, Germany Saturday to lend their voices to the convoluted debate concerning the series of sexual assaults and robberies that took place on New Year's Eve. The crimes have largely been attributed to foreign refugees.
Around 1,700 demonstrators marched in the name of PEGIDA, a conservative anti-Islam group. They were met by 1,300 counter demonstrators outside the city's central train station, according to the Associated Press.
After bottles and firecrackers were thrown at police officers, water cannons were used to disperse the crowd.
Police made several arrests and reported a number of injuries, including cuts to the face to both civilians and officers in uniform. Police said that a large portion of PEGIDA demonstrators were right-wing extremists and football hooligans. A spokeswoman added that many were known by the police to come from Dresden, which lies to the East, Deutsche Welle reported.
Hundreds of women's rights activists gathered on Saturday outside of Cologne's central cathedral to protest the violence witnessed on New Year's Eve.
"It's about making clear that we will not stop moving around freely here in Cologne, and to protest against victim bashing and the abuse of women," said local resident Ina Wolf, according to The Chicago Tribune.
German authorities said that they received 379 criminal complaints that were filed in the wake of New Year's Eve, with roughly 40 percent of them involving allegations of sexual violence.
"Those in focus of criminal police investigations are mostly people from North African countries. The majority of them are asylum seekers and people who are in Germany illegally," said German police, according to RT.
Cologne's police chief drew criticism for the force's response to the attacks. He was dismissed on Friday amid criticisms of non-transparency and mishandling of events.
