LONDON >> Thousands of police officers fanned out across Britain on Wednesday amid fears that protests planned by far-right groups would descend into fresh violence after days of anti-immigrant riots shocked the country.

More than a dozen towns and cities across Britain experienced violent unrest over the past week, fueled in part by far-right agitators and an online disinformation campaign intent on creating disorder after a deadly knife attack on a children’s class in northwestern England.

Rioters clashed with police, set cars alight and targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum-seekers.

Far-right groups have called for further protests Wednesday night, with the BBC reporting that police were monitoring at least 30 locations.

Authorities in places like Kent, Liverpool and Rotherham — which saw earlier violence — were on alert.

— The New York Times