Four Charged with Forming German Anti-Migrant 'Terror' Group

German prosecutors said Wednesday they have charged four people with forming a right-wing extremist "terror" group which was allegedly planning a bomb attack at an inhabited refugee shelter.

The four German suspects are accused of starting a "far-right terrorist organization" called Oldschool Society with a larger group of people in 2014.

Germany has recorded a sharp jump in crime attributed to the far-right in tandem with the surge in asylum seeker arrivals which reached 1.1 million last year.

At its first meeting in November 2014, the group allegedly "discussed the manufacturing of explosives as well as attacks on Salafists and asylum seekers," federal prosecutors said in a statement.

By May 2015, when they were arrested, they had hatched a plan "for a bomb attack at an inhabited refugee shelter".

Suspects Markus W., 40, and Denise Vanessa G., 23, were allegedly tasked with procuring pyrotechnic explosives from the Czech Republic.

Markus W. and another suspect, 57-year-old Andreas H., were examining how they could modify the explosives to make them more powerful.

"They discussed wrapping the explosives with nails or fuel. But the attacks did not take place as they were arrested on May 6, 2015 and have since been in detention," said prosecutors.

The fourth suspect was named as 47-year-old Olaf O., the "press spokesman" of the group.

In the wake of a rash of crime targeting women at New Year's festivities in Cologne that has been blamed on migrants, Germany is on edge with fears that the rampage could fuel xenophobic violence.

Police said groups linked to Cologne's extremist hooligan scene had used social media to organize gatherings in the inner city Sunday evening, and launched a spate of attacks against Pakistani, Syrian and African men.