New leaks raise further questions on neo-Nazi-linked racial killings in Germany

Hundreds of German intelligence files on far-right extremism, which could have shed more light on a series of racial killings by the National Socialist Underground (NSU), have been missing, a local public broadcaster has reported.

More than 500 files on far-right extremism collected by the domestic intelligence agency in the southern state of Hesse, have disappeared, according to a report on Friday by the ZDF network, based in the western city of Maine.

The files reveal a "more than dubious image" of the work of the intelligence service in Hesse, especially during the 1990s, the report added.

At the center of debate years, the documents contained the findings of an internal investigation into Hesse's state intelligence agency, which checked its files on far-right extremism for possible connections to the NSU.

They were initially classified as secret for 120 years, though this was later reduced to 30 years. Tens of thousands of people had petitioned for the files' publication as they hoped for new insights into murders carried out by the far-right terror network.

Eight Turkish immigrants, a Greek citizen, and a German policewoman were killed by the NSU in 2000-2007, prompting questions on the role of intelligence services in the murders.

German authorities had initially ruled out any neo-Nazi motive for the killings, instead treating the immigrant families as suspects, questioning relatives on alleged connections with mafia groups or drug traffickers.

Later revelations unveiled that the country's domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, and regional intelligence agencies, or LfV, were aware of the potential threat, as they employed dozens of informants who had contacts with the three neo-Nazis who formed the NSU death squad.