German leaders have warned against targeting migrants after reports emerged that "Arab-looking men" had carried out coordinated sexual assaults against women in Cologne on New Year's Eve, AFP reported. Justice Minister Heiko Maas said that "lumping it together with the refugee issue is nothing but exploitation".

As many as 90 criminal complaints on sexual assaults, ranging from groping to rape, were filed with the Cologne Police by Tuesday. At least 10 similar incidents were reported in Hamburg in North Germany. Around 200-300 people, according to police estimates, gathered in front of Cologne cathedral on Tuesday evening and called for more respect for women.

Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a thorough investigation of the "repugnant" attacks. She demanded that the perpetrators be found and brought to justice, regardless of their origin or background. As many as one million asylum seekers, many of them from conflict-ridden Syria, fled to Germany in 2015, according to reports.