Police in Germany stopped a plan by neo-Nazis to attack a refugee centre in Bavaria, local authorities revealed on this week.
Officers arrested eleven men and two women during raids on Wednesday in the town of Bamberg near Nuremburg. The group, which had been under observation by police for many months, held a cache of ammunition, firearms and makeshift explosives, as well as Nazi memorabilia, including banned Swastika flags and Third Reich helmets.
Weapons and items with banned Nazi symbols are on display during a news conference of police in Bamberg, Germany, Thursday Oct. 22, 2015
Authorities said the group planned to attack a refugee centre in the town using illegally imported firecrackers, also found during the raid. According to Prosecutor Erik Ohlenschlager, the aim of the attack was to "instill fear and terror among asylum-seekers."
Werner Mikulasch, the deputy police chief for the Upper Franconia region, said the “ball bomb” the group was planning to use would have blown out windows if detonated near to the centre, or even caused death had it exploded next to a person.
A WWII weapon, a Mauser pistol is on display during a news conference of the police in Bamberg, Germany, Thursday Oct. 22, 2015
Some members of the group belong to a far-right outfit called Die Rechte, while one other was a known member of the anti-Islam party Pegida.
According to AP, violence against migrants in Germany has increasing following the arrival of hundreds of thousands of displaced families fleeing wars in Syria and Iraq.