-Caveat Lector- Bradford under siege after day of race riots A day of racial tensions turned into a night of fierce rioting between young Asians, police and right-wing extremists Paul Harris in Bradford Sunday July 8, 2001 The Observer Racial violence erupted on the streets of Bradford yesterday and was continuing early this morning as hundreds of Asian youths fought police in some of the worst rioting seen this summer. Two people were stabbed and 80 police officers injured after a protest march against the National Front turned violent. Police were attacked with baseball bats and hammers and pelted with petrol bombs, bricks, bottles and road signs. Two police horses were also injured including one which was stabbed. Last night across the city, cars and buildings were set alight as a mob of more than 1,000 Asian youths fought pitched battles with hundreds of riot police. Officers struggled to contain the worst of the violence concentrated in the mainly Asian Manningham suburb where dozens of burning barricades littered the streets. The rioting marked a serious escalation of tension that has been growing in towns including Bradford, Oldham, Burnley and Accrington over the past three months. Many have blamed the trouble on the National Front and the British National Party for fomenting racial divisions in deprived communities. As the violence raged out of control, the Archbishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend David Smith, went on to the streets of Manningham and made an emotional appeal for calm. 'I'm very disappointed obviously and very distressed... We all feared that Bradford would join the list of towns and cities where trouble flared and sadly now it has.' Yesterday's trouble flared after a meeting in Bradford's Centenary Square organised by the Anti-Nazi League. The event drew more than 500 people, mainly young Asian men. In a nearby pub, National Front supporters, wearing their trademark bomber jackets and sunglasses, had gathered and began shouting racial abuse. The response of the Asian youths was instant and violent. A fight began and within seconds had spilled into the surrounding streets. Officers had mounted the huge security operation after reports that NF members had congregrated in the pub. Last week, the group was banned by Home Secretary David Blunkett from staging a march in Bradford. Last month The Observer revealed that the NF and other violent extremist groups were still planning violence in the city. In Manningham, residents watched in horror as the violence raged. A group of about 1,000 Asian youths set fire to barricades on the area's White Abbey Road and tore up bricks and paving stones to hurl at the police. Thick smoke and fumes drifted down a half-mile length of the road as police tried to beat the rioters back. Youths set fire to several cars and threw petrol bombs at buildings, briefly setting the roof of one alight. As mounted police in full riot gear charged the youths gathered behind a burning wreck. Fire engines advanced to tackle the blazes behind a tight cordon of police, but were forced to retreat several times under a hail of stones and bricks. Shortly after 9pm a delegation of community leaders, including local Tory councillor Mohammed Riaz, went through police lines to talk to rioters. Their efforts had little effect. 'I cannot believe these scenes are taking place in a city in England,' said Riaz. 'How have the police allowed a peaceful demonstration to disintegrate into to this?' As rioters continued to torch vehicles and stone police lines several officers were injured by projectiles. One policeman was dragged away unconscious by colleagues. Earlier, in Thornton Road, I watched as a white man was set upon by a gang and stabbed in the back. As he toppled over his torn T-shirt exposed a gaping wound; the knife had gouged a huge hole in his back, but the mob still kicked him before mounted police rescued him. At one stage a pregnant woman was led away by police after getting caught up in the violence. Mother-of-two Linda Cunliffe, who was out shopping, said: 'The situation seemed calm one minute and there was no sign of any National Front people but suddenly the Asian youths began running and stones started being thrown.' Police last night denied claims of being 'heavy-handed' during the clashes. Chief Superintendent Phil Read, of West Yorkshire Police said 18 people - 10 white men, a white woman and seven Asians - had been arrested. Read said some of the incidents were clearly racially motivated and revealed that inquiry teams were now investigating them. Six members of the public were injured. He said: 'What we are seeing is wanton violence which is putting lives at risks. There can be no excuse for this criminal behaviour.' As the violence continued into the night, local people in Manningham also blamed outsiders. Naveed Butt, 31, said: 'There are just a handful of people from Bradford involved. A lot of lads here have been looking for any excuse to cause trouble. The local people are just standing on the streets shocked and bewildered. They are burning our businesses and our cars.' Wiping away tears, he added: 'What they're doing is totally out of order. It reflects badly on every Pakistani - not just in Bradford but the whole of Britain.' Farouq Amin, 30, said: 'We cannot believe what has happened. The hooligans have been stealing cars and setting them alight but these cars belong to Asian people and they're hurting their own. It will take us years to recover.' MPs and race campaigners last night demanded an inquiry into the violence. Gerry Sutcliffe, Labour MP for Bradford South, said: 'Police knew where [the Far Right groups] were coming. I am not convinced we did all that we could to stop them getting into the city centre. 'We have all the laws we need [to deal with this sort of incitement], the police just need to recognise that whenever these Far Right groups appear they will incite racial tension - which is an offence.' A spokesman for the Commission for Racial Equality said last night: 'We would urge everybody to stand back and keep calm. There is racist violence in town after town every night and usually this gets little publicity. Now that there is publicity we need to lead a constructive response. 'This has to be from a governmental level, from the police and from within the ethnic comunities. We need to put into practice whatever measures are necessary to stop this happening in other communities.' . A 20-year-old man was last night charged with racially-motivated firebomb attacks in Accrington, Lancashire, ten days ago. Rajab Ali was arrested in connection with an attack on a car and a school. 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