Ten injured in clashes as police break up protest camp in Ukraine

At least 10 people were injured in clashes between Ukrainian police and anti-government protesters in Kiev on Saturday, when officers began removing a protest camp near parliament.

The makeshift tent camp was set up last year by supporters of opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili after he was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship.

Saakashvili served as the president of his native Georgia before losing his Georgian citizenship and fleeing to Ukraine where he was initially welcomed Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko. He was granted Ukrainian citizenship but that was also taken away from him when he fell out with Poroshenko. 

Saakashvili was deported from Ukraine to Poland last month.

The majority of Saakashvili's supporters left the camp after his departure, but some activists remained.

Police said about 100 activists had been detained due to violence, while six protesters and four police officers were hurt in the clashes.

"We have two court decisions to inspect and search this area. Then communal workers will clean it up," Andriy Kryshchneko, head of Kiev police, told reporters at the scene.

Grenades, fire and smoke bombs were found in the camp during the raid, police said.

"Police in riot gear approached from two sides and detained almost all the people (in the camp). Trucks started dragging apart and demolishing the barricades," lawmaker and Saakasvili ally Yehor Sobolev said.

The camp is an offshoot of a broader opposition movement that holds regular peaceful protests in Kiev demanding Poroshenko's resignation over a stalled reform drive.