Clashes in Rome as police evict refugee squatters from square

A refugee protests in the street after being forcibly removed from a building where he had been living, in central Rome, Italy August 23, 2017. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

ROME (Reuters) - Police using water canon and batons clashed on Thursday with refugees who had occupied a small Rome square in defiance of an order to leave a building where they had been squatting.

Television images showed some of the refugees screaming and trying to hit police, who were dressed in riot gear, with sticks. The square, just one block from Rome's main train station, was strewn with mattresses, overturned rubbish bins and broken plastic chairs.