Girl wearing headscarf attacked in eastern Germany

An 11-year-old girl wearing a headscarf was injured in a suspected racist attack by two far-right extremists in the eastern state of Saxony, Germany on Sunday, according to local reports.

The suspected attackers, a 16-year-old male and 17-year-old female, targeted the Iraqi national in front of a supermarket in the town of Sebnitz, reported local media, citing the police in Dresden, Saxony's capital.

The female attacker first took off the Iraqi girl's headscarf and pulled her by her hair to the ground.

The male attacker then kicked the girl while the female attacker closed her mouth using her hand.

The attackers reportedly shouted "What are you doing here? Go back to your country."

The Iraqi girl was injured during the attack. Police have launched an investigation into the suspected attackers.

Germany has witnessed growing xenophobia and anti-migrant hatred in recent years, fueled by the propaganda of neo-Nazi groups and the far-right Islamophobic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The police recorded more than 19,000 far-right crimes in 2018, with extremists committing some 1,000 violent attacks against foreigners, immigrants, or political rivals.

Almost 500 people were injured in attacks inspired by far-right ideologies.