Protests against anti-immigration party staged in Germany's Stuttgart

FRANKFURT -- Hundreds of people on Saturday took to the street in protest against an anti-immigration party in southwestern German city Stuttgart, with clashes with police reported.

The protesters tried to block the roads in Stuttgart where the anti-immigration party Alternative Fuer Deutschland (AfD) is set to hold Federal Party Convention from April 30 to May 1.

Some 1,000 police officers surrounded the protesters and fired pepper spray, according to German media reports.

The right-wing AfD party came into being in 2013 and is critical of Euro currency and bailouts. After the resignation last year of its founder, the party focused on campaigning against government's refugee policy, calling for reintroduction of border controls.