Cologne dismisses police chief after New Year's Eve sexual assaults

Police initially failed to mention the assaults around Cologne's main station in their report the following morning, describing the New Year festivities as "largely peaceful."

Albers acknowledged the mistake earlier this week, but dismissed widespread criticism that officers were overwhelmed and reacted too slowly in protecting the women.

However, an internal police report widely published in German media on Thursday indicated strongly that police were overwhelmed, and described how women had to run through mobs of drunken men outside Cologne's main train station.

Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker suggested on Friday that police had held back information from her, including on where suspects in the crimes came from, and said in a statement that her "trust in the Cologne police leadership is significantly shaken." Albers rejected suggestions that police had deliberately withheld information.

However, he said after his removal that he understands Jaeger's decision. In a statement, Albers said that the events must be cleared up in detail and "the public debate surrounding me is liable to complicate and delay this work."

Earlier Friday, Germany's Interior Ministry said police have identified 18 asylum-seekers among 31 suspects in connection with the robberies and assaults.

They were detained by federal police on suspicion of committing crimes ranging from theft to assault, and in one case verbal abuse of a sexual nature, Interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate told reporters in Berlin. They were believed to be among a group of up to 1,000 people in front of Cologne's main railway station on Thursday evening.

None of the 31 is currently suspected of committing sexual assaults — the aspect of the Cologne assaults that has prompted outrage in Germany over the past week.

Plate said the suspects were nine Algerians, eight Moroccans, five Iranians, four Syrians, two Germans and one person each from Iraq, Serbia and the United States.

Cologne police said Friday they have received a total of 170 criminal complaints related to New Year, including 120 of a sexual nature. In addition to the 31 suspects detained by federal officers, city police arrested two men from North Africa, ages 16 and 23, early Friday.

The incidents have triggered calls for tighter immigration laws, particularly from politicians opposed to Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy that allowed nearly 1.1 million refugees to enter the country last year.

Government spokesman Georg Streiter said the chancellor wants "the whole truth" about the events in Cologne, and that "nothing should be held back and nothing should be glossed over."

"It doesn't just harm our rule of law but also the great majority of completely innocent refugees who have sought protection" in Germany, he said.

Plate said authorities were investigating possible links to similar sexual assaults in other cities to see whether there had been any coordination. Swedish police said Friday that at least 15 young women reported being groped by groups of men on New Year's Eve in the city of Kalmar.

The Associated Press