LUTZERTH: Clashes broke out on Saturday between German police and environmental protesters in a village that was being destroyed to make room for an expanding coal mine.

Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist, joined a demonstration in the West German village of Luetzrath and spoke out against the action.

Police estimated there were 15,000 participants, compared to the organizers' claims of 35,000.

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Hundreds of protesters defied orders to leave the cordoned site in the face of mud, rain and subsequent darkness. Clashes also took place between some protesters and the police.

According to an AFP police spokesman, police used water cannons against the "violent" protesters. But as the protesters slowly left, the area became quiet once again by late evening.

According to police, people on both sides were injured, "but we don't yet know how many" nor how serious the injuries were.

Protest organizers reported that dozens of protesters were hurt, some by police dog bites and others by water cannons. According to Birte Schramm, a doctor with the group still occupying the village, at least 20 activists were taken to hospitals for treatment.

He said that some of them suffered head and stomach beatings at the hands of the police. Run by the energy company RWE and already one of the largest in Europe, Luetzrath, which had been abandoned for some time, is being demolished to expand a nearby open-cast coal mine.

As a group of protesters approached the village, Thunberg led the way, in support of the activists who were occupying her in protest.

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He spoke from a forum, calling it shameful that the German government entered into agreements and pacts with fossil fuel companies such as RWE.

Germany has a huge responsibility because it is one of the world's biggest polluters, he continued. Ambulance sirens could be heard close to the protest site as local media reported that stones were thrown at police and a protester was seen with a head injury.

Police said that the protesters broke the security barriers and entered the mine site near the coal mine on a large scale. Police tweeted, "Police barriers have been breached."

"Get out of here immediately, people in front of Luetzerath," said the voice. "Some people went into the mine. Get out of the danger zone immediately! As the village has come to represent opposition to fossil fuels, hundreds of police workers as part of an operation launched earlier this week pulling out of the mine." ,

Within a short period of time, the police were able to clear a large part of the protestors' camp and evacuate its residents.

According to police quoted in German media, around 470 activists had been removed from the village since the evacuation began.

But as of late Friday, a spokeswoman for the protest movement said 20 to 40 people were still camping in the disputed village. According to officials, the workers were about to be evacuated.

While nearby trees were cut down as part of the evacuation, demolition work was progressing slowly on the evacuated buildings. For the forced evacuation, police reinforcements have traveled from across the country.

AFP reported "Stop the coal" and "Luzerth lives!" Many of the village workers have set up structures high in the trees, and others have climbed onto the roofs of barns and dilapidated buildings.

   In an attempt to make the evacuation process more challenging, activists claimed that they had also dug a tunnel under the hamlet. Protests in support of the movement took place across Germany. On Friday, masked protesters defaced the offices of the Berlin Green Party with graffiti and set rubbish bins on fire.

The party, which is in Germany's ruling coalition with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats and the liberal FDP, has come under attack from activists, who accuse it of betraying its principles.

In response to the energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government has restarted old coal power plants.

A settlement agreement was signed between the government and the RWE, allowing Luetzerath to be destroyed while sparing five surrounding villages.

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The energy company also agreed to phase out coal-fired power generation in western Germany by 2030, eight years earlier than originally anticipated.

In an effort to offset the loss of Russian gas imports, Chancellor Scholz inaugurated a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on Saturday at the northern port of Lubmin on the Baltic coast.