Right-wing extremist opens fire on German police in Bavaria

A man, who police said was a member of a right-wing group, opened fire at police in the southern state of Bavaria on Wednesday, injuring four policemen before being arrested, police said in a statement.

There are conflicting reports as to the circumstances around the situation.

Reuters news agency reported that the man shot the policemen after they asked him to dispose of his legal gun during a search at the entrance to a municipal building in the town of Georgensgmünd, south of the city of Nuremberg.

The Independent cites the Bavarian interior ministry as saying that the 49-year-old man opened fire on the officers after they entered his home while conducting an operation to confiscate legally-owned weapons because of the suspect's "unreliability".

Police said he is a member of the Reichsbürger movement (Reich citizens) which maintains that the current German state is illegitimate and that the World War Two German Reich continues to exist.

The suspect was lightly injured. Some of the policemen are in serious condition, police said, giving no further details.

Joachim Herrmann, the Bavarian interior minister, and local judiciary and police officials are due to hold a conference on the shooting later in the day.

Germany remains in a state of high alert following a series of terror attacks by Daesh supporters. But there is also growing concern over far-right movements, which have been gathering increasing support during tensions over the refugee crisis and sexual assaults in Cologne.

Centres for asylum seekers have been the target of arson attacks and racist graffiti, while police uncovered a neo-Nazi plot to attack refugee accomodation with explosives last year.