Six people have been injured in a violent clash between football supporters of Dinamo Zagreb and Partizan Belgrade clubs, in the eastern Croatian town of Vukovar on Thursday.

Local police spokesman Dragoslav Zivkovic said the police had arrested several people and were looking for other participants in the conflict which occurred in the neighbourhood of Borovo Naselje.

According to eyewitnesses, about 20 people took part in the an altercation involving local members of Dinamo’s Bad Blue Boys and Partizan’s Gravediggers hooligan groups, and the brawl involved flares, clubs, and other objects.

Vukovar, which had been heavily damaged in a siege by Yugoslav and Serb forces during the 1991-95 war, has a sizeable ethnic Serb community.

Football preference is seen as a proxy for ethnic identity, with local Serbs commonly supporting major Belgrade-based clubs such as Partizan or Red Star, whereas ethnic Croats usually prefer Croatian powerhouses Dinamo or Hajduk.

As a result, nationalist football hooligans are commonly involved in violent incidents or hate speech.

Earlier this month, an offensive anti-Serb banner displayed by Dinamo hooligans in Zagreb led to widespread condemnation and several arrests.