BERLIN

At least 18 protestors and 2 police officers were injured in clashes between far-right extremists and left-wing protesters in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, police said on Tuesday.

Unrest in the city begun on Sunday, after far-right extremists took to the streets, following reports on social media that attributed the killing of a 35-year-old German citizen to two migrants from Syria and Iraq.

On Monday night, around 6 thousand far-right demonstrators gathered in Chemnitz, shouting anti-immigrant slogans and demanding the deportation of refugees.

A counter-protest of left-wing groups drew more than a thousand people.

Saxony’s police department said it filed criminal charges against more than 40 protestors, including 10 far-right extremists who gave the banned Hitler salute.