Immigrant riots rock southern Italian town as tensions explode - Europe, World - The Independent

Immigrant riots rock southern Italian town as tensions explode

Fifteen arrested and more than 30 injured as African migrants clash with police

By Michael Day in Milan

Saturday, 9 January 2010

EPA

Hundreds of migrant farm workers, mostly from Africa, clash with Italian police in Rosarno, Calabria, after some were shot by local youths

Simmering racial tensions in southern Italy have exploded into violence, with hundreds of African immigrants rioting in the Calabrian town of Rosarno.

In one of the worst-ever incidents of racial unrest in Italy, the violence broke out on Thursday evening after white youths in a car fired air rifles at a group of immigrants returning from working on farms.

Two immigrants were slightly injured by the gunfire. "Those guys were firing at us as if it was a fairground," a Moroccan identified as Kamal told La Repubblica newspaper. "They were laughing, I was screaming, other cars were passing by but nobody stopped."

In a furious reaction, immigrant farm