Hong Kong police use tougher tactics against protesters

Hong Kong police have resorted to harsher-than-usual tactics to suppress protesters this week in the city’s most violent turmoil in decades.

Police fired rubber bullets and beanbag rounds at the crowds, weapons that have not been widely used in recent history.

Human rights groups criticized the tough tactics, while police said they were necessary against crowds of people who broke through barriers outside government headquarters and the legislature on Wednesday.

Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority said the clashes left 79 people injured. It did not provide a breakdown between police and protesters.