South Asian Youths and Police Clash in Northern England

Hundreds of young people of Asian descent clashed with police Tuesday night in the northern English city of Leeds as racial tensions boiled over for the second time in two weeks, police and news reports said.

About 300 youths in a predominantly Bangladeshi neighborhood hurled bricks at police and set a car and storefront on fire. Residents said the outburst of anger followed the Sunday arrest of a local man.

Community leaders met with police representatives Tuesday, but residents said the meeting failed to address their concerns.

“That’s why it started tonight,” one onlooker, declining to give his name, told Britain’s Press Assn. “It is not a racist attack--this is because of police inaction.”

Police said officers responded to reports of a disturbance and were confronted by about 50 people.

Riot police and dogs were called in after nightfall as the number of youths--throwing bottles, bricks and rubble--swelled to about 300, the Press Assn. reported.

Similar riots flared in nearby Oldham for three nights last week after simmering tensions between the city’s South Asian and white youths boiled over. About 50 people were arrested there as police struggled to restore order.

Britain’s Asian community--a term used here to denote those with roots in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka--is large, dynamic and increasingly affluent.