Germany bans British-founded neo-Nazi group Combat 18 as cops seize weapons in sweeping dawn raids across the country

Germany has today banned the neo-Nazi group Combat 18 Deutschland and carried out a series of raids on the offshoot of the British far-right organisation.

Police hit six addresses across the country in what a top security official said was a 'clear message' against far-right extremism and anti-Semitism.

More than 200 police officers carried out the raids early on Thursday, seizing cellphones, computers, unspecified weapons, Nazi memorabilia and propaganda material, the Interior Ministry said.

The group had spread 'far-right extremism and anti-Semitic hatred' in German society by producing neo-Nazi music and staging concerts for extremist bands, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.

The group is an offshoot of Combat 18, which was founded in Britain in the early 1990s as a militant wing of the British National Party.

The number 18 stands for the first and eighth letters of the alphabet, AH, which are the initials of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.  (more...)

Germany bans British-founded neo-Nazi group Combat 18 as cops seize weapons in sweeping dawn raids across the country