German officials warn over scapegoating after mass public assaults

German leaders have warned over linking suspects to refugees following a series of seemingly coordinated sexual assaults on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for an in-depth investigation of the attacks, which include harassment, mugging and a reported rape, allegedly committed outside the city's main train station.

"Everything must be done to find as many of the perpetrators as possible as quickly as possible and bring them to justice, regardless of their origin or background," Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert quoted the Chancellor as saying.

Police in Cologne said they had received 90 criminal complaints about groups of men aged between 20 and 35, with some sources claiming they were mainly of Arab or North African appearance, although no arrests have been made yet.

"We assume more people will come forward," said police chief Wolfgang Albers.

On Tuesday night, around 300 people came together in front of the Cologne cathedral to protest against the assault.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the assaults were "a new dimension of crime that we will have to get to grips with".

"This is not about where someone is from but what they did. Making an issue out of it, lumping it together with the refugee issue, is nothing but exploitation. Now is the time to determine the facts and then decide on the necessary consequences,” he added.

Interior minister Thomas de Maiziere echoed these sentiments, saying there should not be any general suspicion towards refugees, at least for now.

"But if North Africans were the perpetrators, for which there is some indication, there should not be a taboo and people should not gloss over it," he said.

The attacks were only covered by national media early this week, after police initially said there had been no major incidents.