German police they have foiled a neo-Nazi plot to attack refugee centres with explosives, knives, baseball bats and a gun.  Flags emblazoned with banned swastikas, Nazi magazines and memorabilia from the Third Reich were among the items found at the homes of suspected conspirators in Bavaria.  Police in the historic city of Bamberg suspected a centre for refugees arriving in Germany through the Balkans to be the gang’s target.

Detectives had observed the group of 11 men and two women for more than a year before swooping on Wednesday morning, when they seized illegal firecrackers, a firearm, ammunition and other weapons.  Some of the accused plotters are members of an extremist party called Die Rechte, while others supported the local offshoot of anti-Islam group Pegida, which is called Nügida.  Several of the suspects have been “participants and managers” in xenophobic demonstrations, police said, possibly including the anniversary rally held by Pegida that drew more than 20,000 people in Dresden on Monday.

Read more: Independent (UK)