Police in Hong Kong clashed with hundreds of advancing protesters, who were seeking to reoccupy the streets of Mongkok district on Friday after being forced to disperse earlier in the day.

"Our strategy was to arrive all at once so that we wouldn't be dragged off easily by police," protester Walter Mak told the German news agency DPA.

Using umbrellas and face masks, protesters sought to shield themselves from police pepper spray and batons. Demonstrators accused the police of using excessive force.

"The police have lost control," Tommy Lee, a 45-year-old technology worker, told the Associated Press. "They are beating up protesters like we're animals. We are angry. The students are our future."

The police said that three officers had been injured during the clashes. Dozens of protesters were detained, but it's unclear how many were hurt. One protester was seen bleeding from the head as police carried him to a van.

Vow to defend protest sites

Speaking to a crowd outside of government offices in the Admiralty district, student leader Joshua Wong called on protesters to defend their camp sites.

"If we lose any of our three battlegrounds - Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mongkok - the whole movement will suffer a blow," Wong said.

Hong Kong had witnessed a period of relative calm over the past two weeks, with demonstrations petering out after initially drawing tens of thousands of people to the streets. But unrest flared up again this week, when police sought to clear protesters from an occupied tunnel near government headquarters on Wednesday.

A video was posted online showing police officers leading a protester away from the site of the clashes and then proceeding to beat him. Legislators identified the man as Ken Tsang, a member of the pro-democracy Civic Party.

"Police officers brutally assaulted me, while I was detained and defenseless," Tsang said. "Prior to that, I was assualted and later I was assaulted yet againt in the police station."

Call for direct elections

Protests erupted on September 26 over the system used to elect Hong Kong's chief executive. Although China's central government has agreed to allow direct elections in 2017, the candidates will come from a list sanctioned by a pro-Beijing committee. Pro-democracy activists want completely free and competitive elections without a candidate screening process.

Hong Kong's current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, has offered to talk with demonstrators about their demands for democratic reforms. But he has refused to stop police from clearing protest camps during the talks.

Previously, Leung has said that the protesters have no chance of getting Beijing to agree to their demands.

Formerly a British colony, Hong Kong was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.Under the policy of "one country, two systems," Hong Kong has been allowed to retain freedoms from the British era that mainland China does not have.

slk/es (AP, AFP, dpa)