News In Brief

US asks Bonn to crack down on war-exercise protesters

The US Army urged West German authorities Thursday to crack down on ''anarchists and criminals'' vandalizing military installations to protest the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's fall maneuvers.

Hundreds of demonstrators have tried to break into munitions depots, sabotage military equipment, and blockade US, German, and NATO installations during the alliance's ongoing Autumn Forge exercises, which involve about 250,000 troops from seven NATO countries.

Leaders of the West German peace movement have dissociated themselves from the violence against soldiers, and an Interior Ministry official said members of West Germany's ''terrorist fringe'' were to blame for most of the trouble.