German police raid suspected far-right group believed to be armed

German investigators carried out raids across three states on Tuesday targeting a suspected armed far-right extremist group.

Some 13 properties were searched across Lower Saxony in northern Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia in the west and Baden-Württemberg in the south-west, prosecutors and criminal police in Lower Saxony said.

Eight suspects aged 32 to 57 are suspected of having formed an armed group based on far-right extremists beliefs. Four of them are believed to illegally possess military weapons and other fully automatic firearms, according to the statement.

In one case, criminal police seized a pistol including ammunition back in April, it said.

Prosecutors said the aim of the raids was to seize the weapons as well as gather further information about the group's activities.

So far, authorities have not commented on potential findings.