• Asia: Hong Kong crisis returns to violent confrontations
  • Protests: Thousands of people form a human chain in Hong Kong to ask for "freedom"

A Hong Kong police officer fired his gun at least once on Sunday , the first time law enforcement officers fire with real bullets in three months of protests in the former British colony rocked by pro-democratic demonstrations.

Police also used water cannon protests for the first time to repress protesters , an AFP journalist said.

The security forces had so far claimed that they would use that repressive weapon only in case of "large-scale disturbance of public order."

Hundreds of prodemocracy protesters had gathered on Sunday in the rain in a stadium and began marching through the streets of Hong Kong, a day after violent clashes occurred in this former British colony.

Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of southern China, is experiencing its greatest political crisis since its retrocession through London in 1997 , with almost daily actions in which protesters denounce a decline in freedoms and increasing interference from Beijing.

This same Sunday afternoon, another mobilization of hundreds of people, which was attended by numerous relatives of police officers, was held elsewhere in the city, in support of the security forces.

On Saturday, protesters lifted a barricade and uttered insults against the police , which they accuse of committing acts of violence. After hours of tension, the security forces intervened throwing tear gas against the protesters, who threw bottles, stones and other objects at them.

Ten people were hospitalized after these clashes, two of them in serious condition. Medical sources did not specify whether they were protesters or police.

The former British colony has been the scene since June of demonstrations against a bill authorizing extraditions to mainland China, where justice is under the influence of the local Communist Party.

The bill was suspended by local authorities in Hong Kong, but the protest movement quickly expanded its demands for more democracy.

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