Germany bans neo-Nazi group Combat 18, launches raids

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has banned neo-Nazi group Combat 18 in Germany and launched raids on the group across the country, the ministry said on Thursday. "Federal Minister of the Interior #Seehofer has banned 'Combat 18 Germany'," the ministry said in a tweet.

"Since the early hours of the morning, police measures have been underway in six federal states. #Right-wing extremism and #anti-Semitism have no place in our society," the ministry added. Combat 18 originated in Britain and has spread to other countries including Germany.

The ban comes after Walter Luebcke, a senior local conservative politician known for pro-migrant views, was shot dead last year. A man arrested on suspicion of the murder was a far-right sympathizer, the Federal Prosecutor's Office said. Germany was also shocked by another shooting last year near a synagogue in eastern Germany in which two people were killed.

World leaders, including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, gather in Israel later on Thursday ahead of a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz.