COLOGNE, Germany, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Several men have been arrested in Germany, accused of committing a series of robberies and sexual assaults on New Year's Eve, officials said Tuesday.
Prosecutors said the attacks involved some people who are not German nationals, but migrants who sought asylum in the country as part of a mass wave of recent migration -- an issue that has sparked debate.
At least one of the men in custody is accused of robbery and groping, and two others are accused of robbery. It wasn't immediately clear what the others in custody were charged with.
The Cologne prosecutor's office said those accused initially involved both asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.
Mass groping by immigrants was reported in other European nations, as well, including Switzerland and Finland.
The nationalities of the men in custody were not immediately known. BBC News, though, reported that one is Algerian. He is accused of groping a woman and stealing her cellphone.
Nearly two dozen people are being investigated in the Cologne attacks, and eight have been detained.
