Far-right extremists are suspected of being behind attempted bombings targeting a mosque and conference centre in Germany, hours after a march by the anti-Islam Pegida movement.

The door of a mosque in Dresden was blown inside by the force of the blast at around 10pm local time (9pm BST) on Monday.

The family living inside, the mosque’s imam, his wife and two sons, were unhurt but found six bottles filled with fuel outside their scorched and blackened door.

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Ibrahim Ismail Turan, the imam’s 10-year-old son, told the Sächsische Zeitung newspaper: “They attacked us because they hate us, because we’re Muslims.”

Around 25 minutes later, another explosion was reported to police outside the city’s International Congress Centre, lying near the state parliament on the River Elbe.

The blast shattered glass on the building’s terrace but injured no one, with investigators finding remnants of an improvised explosive device at the scene.

Police evacuated a nearby bar over fears of a further blast and told guests staying in the hotel above the terrace to stay away from windows.

Officers have been dispatched to guard two mosques in Dresden, as well as an Islamic centre, with further protections under consideration as the investigation continues.

Horst Kretzschmar, the chief of Dresden police, said the attempted attacks were believed to be connected.

“Although we have not yet seen any claim of responsibility, we must work on the basis of a xenophobic motive,” he said. “At the same time, we see a connection to celebrations for the Day of German Unity this coming weekend.”

The public holiday, which falls on 3 October, marks the reunification of Germany in 1990 and is marked with festivals officially hosted by a different city each year, with the task for 2016 falling to Dresden.

The city is home to the Pegida movement, which stands for “Patriotic Europeans against Islamisation of the West”, and holds weekly marches sometimes drawing tens of thousands of supporters.

Described by one politician as “Nazis in pinstripes”, the group is regularly met by counter-demonstrations accusing members of racism, fascism, xenophobia and inciting violence.

Shape Created with Sketch. Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks Show all 13 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Germany reacts to Cologne New Year's Eve attacks 1/13 Women protest against sexism outside Cologne Cathedral on 5 January after the assaults Oliver Berg/EPA 2/13 Women protest against sexism in Cologne following the rash of sex attacks on New Year's Eve Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters 3/13 Police initially failed to mention the assaults in report the following morning EPA 4/13 Police officers patrol in front of the main station of Cologne, Germany AP 5/13 German far-right supporters demonstrate at Cologne`s train station (Reuters) Reuters 6/13 Supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters 7/13 Police used pepper spray to control supporters of Pegida, Hogesa (Hooligans against Salafists) and other right-wing populist groups as they protested against the New Year's Eve sex attacks on 9 January, 2016 in Cologne, Germany Reuters 8/13 Police use a water cannon during a protest march by supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016 Reuters 9/13 Police use pepper spray against supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida, in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters 10/13 Artist Mira Moiré protests naked in Cologne against the mass sex attacks on New Year's Eve AP 11/13 A demonstrator holds a sign in German that reads 'No violence against women' during a demonstration in the wake of the sexual assaults on New Year's Eve, outside the cathedeal in Cologne, Germany, 09 January 2016. EPA 12/13 Counter demonstrators hold up a sign reading "Against sexism, against racism" as they protest against a demonstration of the islamophobic movement PEGIDA at the train station in Cologne, Germany, on January 9, 2016. AFP/Getty Images 13/13 Demonstration by a women’s group on Saturday (AP) AP 1/13 Women protest against sexism outside Cologne Cathedral on 5 January after the assaults Oliver Berg/EPA 2/13 Women protest against sexism in Cologne following the rash of sex attacks on New Year's Eve Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters 3/13 Police initially failed to mention the assaults in report the following morning EPA 4/13 Police officers patrol in front of the main station of Cologne, Germany AP 5/13 German far-right supporters demonstrate at Cologne`s train station (Reuters) Reuters 6/13 Supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters 7/13 Police used pepper spray to control supporters of Pegida, Hogesa (Hooligans against Salafists) and other right-wing populist groups as they protested against the New Year's Eve sex attacks on 9 January, 2016 in Cologne, Germany Reuters 8/13 Police use a water cannon during a protest march by supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016 Reuters 9/13 Police use pepper spray against supporters of anti-immigration right-wing movement Pegida, in Cologne, Germany, January 9, 2016. Reuters 10/13 Artist Mira Moiré protests naked in Cologne against the mass sex attacks on New Year's Eve AP 11/13 A demonstrator holds a sign in German that reads 'No violence against women' during a demonstration in the wake of the sexual assaults on New Year's Eve, outside the cathedeal in Cologne, Germany, 09 January 2016. EPA 12/13 Counter demonstrators hold up a sign reading "Against sexism, against racism" as they protest against a demonstration of the islamophobic movement PEGIDA at the train station in Cologne, Germany, on January 9, 2016. AFP/Getty Images 13/13 Demonstration by a women’s group on Saturday (AP) AP

Photos from Monday’s march, which started four hours before the explosions, showed huge crowds demonstrating with flags and banners reading “rapefugees not welcome” and “Germany is being destroyed”.

Suspicion quickly turned to the group’s supporters following the bombings, although police have not confirmed any link and no suspects have been arrested.

Pegida founder Lutz Bachmann suggested the attacks were a “false flag” operation to allow authorities to stop a protest against Angela Merkel planned for 3 October.

“Violence is not the right solution for anything in the world,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “No matter who carries it out and when.”

The arrival of more than a million asylum seekers in Germany and the New Year's Eve sex attacks in Cologne have sparked a rise in tensions, seeing vigilantes patrol the streets and refugee accommodation attacked.

Government statistics showed 2015 to be a record year for political violence, with the majority of 39,000 recorded offences committed by right-wing extremists.

“The sharp increase in politically motivated crime points to a dangerous development in society,” the interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, said earlier this year. “We are witnessing a growing and increasingly pronounced readiness to use violence, both by right and left-wing extremists.”

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