Services at London's King's Cross and Manchester Piccadilly ground to a halt as both stations were closed amid pro-Kurdish demonstrations.

Waving flags in support of a number of Kurdish organisations, demonstrators jumped onto the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly and attempted to climb overhead line equipment.

Hours later, King's Cross was closed after dozens of protesters gathered outside. Both were later reopened.

Similar events took place across Europe in support of Afrin, the besieged Syrian city which Kurds claim is being "ethnically cleansed" by the Turkish military.

British Transport Police superintendent Mark Cleland said the force respected "the right to peaceful protest", but said those who stormed the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly "will be subject to intense investigation with a view to arrest and prosecution".


"We will continue to maintain a police presence at this station and at other stations across the rail network," he added.

Batons out right now at demo shutdown Kings Cross for #afrin pic.twitter.com/1ro6hntzrk — a$hok kumar (@broseph_stalin) March 11, 2018

The protest at Manchester Piccadilly forced the cancellation of a number of services, while others had delays of up to 90 minutes.

Among those present at the station was Chris Woodhouse, who said families were in tears on the platforms as trains bound for airports were among those cancelled.

Image: Police closed King's Cross station. Pic: Louise Acheson

Images on social media showed protesters sitting on train tracks with yellow banners in support of the YPG (People's Protection Units), a Kurdish militia group.

Some read: "Stop Turkey from helping ISIS terrorists".

Turkey accused of ethnic cleansing by Kurds in Afrin

Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group, although it is not a proscribed organisation.

The government in Ankara has accused the YPG of supporting another armed Kurdish organisation, the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers' Party), which is considered a terrorist group by NATO.

Image: Demonstrators wave Kurdish political flags. Pic: @cannychad

Red flags displaying the emblem of the proscribed PKK were visible in images of the Manchester Piccadilly protest posted on social media.

At another pro-Kurdish protest held at Dusseldorf Airport on Sunday, brawls broke out between Kurdish and Turkish demonstrators.