Germany: Migrants reportedly targeted with slingshot

BERLIN (AA) - German police announced Friday that a 54-year-old man has been arrested for randomly firing metal projectiles using a slingshot at refugees or migrants on the streets.

The arrest was made after a witness reported seeing a man firing at women who appeared to be of foreign origin with a slingshot from his car near the main train station in Taunusstein-Hahn, a small town in central Germany.

Earlier this week the suspect wounded a 25-year-old Syrian who has taken to hospital and treated for head injury, the police said in a statement.

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

Every day, at least three people become victims of racist or xenophobic acts of violence in the country, according to human rights groups.