Police took to the streets of Dutch towns and cities in force Tuesday night in an attempt to prevent violent rioting that shook the country for three successive nights after a nationwide curfew was introduced to curb the spread of the covid-19.

By late night, the increased police presence appeared to have paid off, with no major rioting or clashes between youths and police reported. We are seeing a different picture to yesterday, police chief Willem Woelders told Dutch current affairs show Nieuwsuur.

Local broadcaster Rijnmond reported that riot police were deployed in the south and west of the city, but police did not immediately report any major disturbances. In Amsterdam, riot police were dispatched to a commercial street where a large group of youths had gathered and set off fireworks, but there were no violent confrontations.

The rioting, which started with the torching of a coronavirus testing center in a fishing village on Saturday night, is the worst to hit the Netherlands in years. It was initially triggered by anger over a tough coronavirus lockdown that has been in force since mid-December, but calls for rioting swirling on social media and mainly spread among young people increasingly fuelled the unrest.

 Schools have been closed in the country since the Christmas holidays. Police said Tuesday afternoon that video images showed that many rioters were young teenagers and that many of the people they arrested were picked up close to their homes. I join others in appealing to parents to keep their children at home. Certainly after 2100, stay indoors, said North-Holland regional Police Chief Anja Schouten. The violence has stretched the police and led at times to the deployment of military police.

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