Germany's far-right AfD throws out members arrested as suspected militants

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) said Wednesday it was throwing out three party members who were arrested on suspicion of having joined an extremist paramilitary group.

Police on Tuesday arrested eight suspected members of the "Saxonian Separatists" militant group accused of training in anticipation of the collapse of state order.

Three of them were members of the AfD, an anti-immigration party especially strong in the ex-communist east of Germany.

Leaders scramble

AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said an extraordinary meeting of the party leadership would be held on Wednesday with the sole purpose of excluding the three men.

Tuesday's raids saw hundreds of police swoop on 20 locations linked to what prosecutors called a domestic terrorist group in eastern Germany and neighboring Poland, with locations also searched in Austria.

Prosecutors said the group had been preparing an attempt to impose "governmental and societal structures inspired by National Socialism" (Nazism) and had conducted paramilitary training in combat gear.

Spiegel magazine reported on Wednesday that the raids had uncovered unregistered weapons, munitions -- including Kalashnikov cartridges -- and silencers, as well as the shell of a mortar grenade.

Weidel and Chrupalla said the AfD stands for "the liberal democratic order and has nothing to do with this suspected neo-Nazi grouping".

AfD distances itself

The AfD leadership in the eastern state of Saxony confirmed the exclusion of the three men and partially named them in a statement as Kurt H., Hans-Georg P. and Kevin R.

The AfD leader in Saxony, Joerg Urban, said the party "rejects any form of violence in political debate" and that "preparations for violent acts or coups are also unacceptable".

Germany's domestic security agency has labelled the AfD in both Saxony and Thuringia as a "confirmed" extremist organization, giving intelligence services sweeping powers to spy on its activities.