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Opposition camps go to war with police

Ukrainian police attempt to close a central opposition protest camp

Police attempted to close a central opposition protest camp early but faced fierce resistance from pro-EU demonstrators who tossed fire bombs and stones at them.

Riot police responded with stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets and were able to dismantle a catapult and a barricade built by protesters before being pushed back to their original positions by the crowd.

Hours earlier, fireworks and stun grenades had lit up the night sky as demonstrators set fire to vehicles and threw missiles at police.

One protester accidentally set himself alight while throwing a missile at police and had to be treated by medics.

Health officials say three people have lost eyes and one person had his hand amputated.

Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko accused the government of paying provocateurs to discredit the protests through violence.

He claimed that thugs who had been tasked with smashing windows and burning cars had been chased away by protesters.

Another opposition figure Yuriy Lutsenko said the violence had been caused by President Viktor Yanukovych's failure to respond to peaceful rallies.

"It is obvious Mr Yanukovych simply does not want to hear his people the nice way, so these people in their desperation had to get through to him," he claimed.

The latest bout of violence follows two days of vicious street battles between protesters and riot police.

Unrest flared following two months of protests at President Yanukovych's decision to shelve an economic and political treaty with the European Union in November.

Instead, Mr Yanukovych chose to focus on improving ties with Russia and received a bailout loan from the Kremlin to aid the troubled Ukrainian economy.

The latest unrest was triggered on Sunday at a large demonstration against anti-protest laws which were signed off by the president last week and came into effect.

More than 60 police were injured with 40 being taken to hospital and about 100 civilians were also hurt, according to the authorities.

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