OSLO, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - A video that appears to show last week's attack on a Norwegian asylum centre has been posted on YouTube and could be used as evidence against the perpetrators, Norwegian police said on Tuesday.

Twenty-three people, including an 11-year-old boy, were wounded on Thursday when several dozen people armed with iron bars, knives and machetes attacked the Nordbybraaten asylum centre.

The assault was believed to be linked to tensions between Chechens and Kurds living in the centre, located in Norway's southeast.

Entitled 'Chechen vs. Kurds,' the clip, which lasts one minute and 37 seconds, is of poor quality and appears to have been filmed by one of the attackers. It shows men invading the Nordbybraaten centre.

It also shows a man being hit in the face, and the sounds of glass breaking and iron bars clanking to the ground.

AFP was able to view the video on the YouTube website, but shortly afterwards it was blocked to users.

'Some Kurds consider that they can assault the Chechen women. This video is dedicated to such Kurds,' a caption reads at the end of the film.

'This is an important piece of evidence. We will of course proceed with more arrests this week,' police inspector Per Tore Fremstad told NRK radio.

In total, eight men of Chechen origin have been arrested so far. Six of them have been released while the other two were to appear before a judge on Tuesday to determine whether they would be remanded in custody.

Police said they believed a dispute between Kurdish and Chechen women living in the centre was at the origin of the attack.

A number of Kurds were among the wounded.