UPDATE - German climate activists clash with police at Lutzerath coal mine site

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS; CHANGES DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT

BERLIN (AA) - Climate activists clashed with police in the western German village of Lutzerath on Wednesday, resisting plans to expand a nearby coal mine.

The confrontation escalated as the police attempted to remove barricades to enter the protest camp, and some activists responded by throwing stones, Molotov cocktails, and firebombs.

Dozens of activists were forcibly evicted from the buildings they had occupied, but many others had chained themselves to treehouses to resist the eviction.

A spokesman for the police department told reporters that authorities have started the construction of a fence in the area, and protesters will be allowed to leave the camp, but no one will be allowed to enter the village.

Around 600 climate activists were still occupying the abandoned village and they erected barriers on the roads to block police advances.

Lutzerath has become a symbol for environmentalist groups demanding an end to the use of coal and fossil fuels in Germany to meet climate goals.

Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future, Last Generation, and Scientist Rebellion are among the groups supporting the protest.

The German energy giant RWE is planning to demolish the village as part of a plan to expand the Garzweiler coal mine, with the goal of extracting 280 million tons of lignite by 2030.