Germany's only African-born MP finds office riddled with 'bullet holes'

Dr Karamba Diaby, the social democratic party's lead on integration, is the only MP in the German parliament with African heritage

Senegalese-born German MP for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Karamba Diaby puts up a campaign poster in Halle (AFP)

A German MP has received an outpouring of support after he returned to his office to find it riddled with what appear to be "bullets holes"

Dr Karamba Diaby, a social democrat, was born in Senegal and is the only MP in the German parliament with African heritage.

The incident comes amid fears over far-right violence in Germany, in particular the targeting of pro-immigration politicians.

Dr Diaby, the social democrats' special representative for integration, shared a picture of the holes which he said were targeted at an image of him imposed on the window.

"On Wednesday morning, bullet holes were noticed at my constituency office," he said in a statement.

"An office window with my likeness on it has several bullet holes.

"The police and security services are investigating."

Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas said the incident was "simply unbelievable", describing it as "disgusting and cowardly".

"We will continue to work for a free, tolerant and diverse democracy. Now more than ever!" Mr Maas added.

The holes were in the MP's office window (EPA)

Leftist party Die Linke urged Dr Diaby not to "be intimidated by Nazi-terror", while politicians from the the Greens and Christian Democrats also offered their support.

A police spokesperson said no projectiles had been recovered at the scene and that "police cannot yet say exactly what caused these damages".

Official statistics gathered by Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper show there has been a significant increases in attacks on officials and politicians in many of Germany's 16 states last year - with most suspects links to the far-right.

In 2019 local politician Walter Luebcke was shot dead at his home in the state of Hesse; the prime suspect in the killing had far-right views.

Three high-profile mayors in the states of Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Saxony have also resigned in recent months amid death threats and attacks on their cars.