Thousands have pledged their support to a German vigilante group which has vowed to protect women from migrants in the wake of the New Year's Eve attacks in Cologne.

A week after a mob of 'drunk and stoned' migrants sexually assaulted and robbed 100 women on the streets of Cologne, a group known as 'Dusseldorf is Watching' has gained more than 8,000 Facebook members.

The group says it wants to make the streets safer through 'presence' alone but police have warned that 'searching for offenders is not a job for citizens'.

German police have said 18 of the 31 suspects arrested in connection with the Cologne attacks were asylum seekers.

Police stand guard outside Cologne Cathedral, where hundreds of women were sexually assaulted and robbed by a mob of migrant and refugee men on New Year's Eve

German police have said 18 of the 31 suspects arrested in connection with the Cologne attacks were asylum seekers

'Performance artist' Milo Moire (pictured) today stood naked outside Cologne Cathedral, where the attacks took place on December 31, with a sign that read: 'Respect us! We are not fair game, even when we are naked'

They were arrested on suspicion of committing crimes ranging from theft to assault, and one case of verbal abuse of a sexual nature, Interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate told reporters in Berlin.

They were among an aggressive mob of up to 1,000 people in front of Cologne's main railway station on Thursday evening.

Two of the men were found carrying threatening, handwritten notes in German and Arabic.

The messages, which they are thought to have handed to women, included the phrases, 'I am going to kill you', 'I want to f***', 'I'm only joking with you' and 'nice breasts'.

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

None of the 31 suspects were accused of committing the kind of sexual crimes that have outraged Germany this past week.

Police arrest a man in Cologne in the early hours of New Year's Day, where migrants attacked women and hurled fireworks at police just over one week ago

The migrants threw fireworks at the police and taunted them by saying: 'I am Syrian... Mrs Merkel invited me here!'

At least 121 women have since filed criminal complaints for robbery and sexual assault in Cologne on New Year's Eve

The 1,000 attackers, who were described as being of 'Arab or north African origin', surrounded their victims before attacking them

FEARS OF SEX ATTACKS SPREAD ACROSS EUROPE Sex attacks similar to those in Cologne have also been reported in neighbouring Austria and Switzerland, where six women reported identical crimes in Zurich on New Year's Eve. Swedish police say at least 15 young women reported being groped by groups of men on New Year's Eve in the city of Kalmar. Kalmar police spokesman Johan Bruun on Friday said groups of men surrounded women on a crowded square and groped them. He said no one was physically injured but that many of those targeted were terrified. He said two men, both asylum-seekers, were informed through interpreters that they're suspected of sexual assault and that police are trying to identify other suspects. Swedish police say at least 15 young women have reported being groped by groups of men on New Year's Eve (pictured, the capital Stockholm) Finnish police said that they had been tipped off about plans by groups of asylum seekers to sexually harass women following an unusually high level of sexual harassment cases in Helsinki (pictured) When asked about similarities to the assaults in Germany, Bruun said: 'We are aware of what happened in Germany but we are focusing our investigation on what happened in Kalmar.' In Finland, security guards hired to patrol the city on New Year's Eve told police there had been 'widespread sexual harassment' at a central square where around 20,000 people had gathered for celebrations. Finnish police said that they had been tipped off about plans by groups of asylum seekers to sexually harass women following an unusually high level of sexual harassment cases in Helsinki. 'Police have... received information about three cases of sexual assault, of which two have been filed as complaints,' Helsinki police said in a statement. 'The suspects were asylum seekers. The three were caught and taken into custody on the spot,' said Helsinki deputy police chief Ilkka Koskimaki. Advertisement

Police in Cologne have received 170 criminal complaints from victims of the to New Year's attacks, including 120 of a sexual nature.

The city's police chief was sacked from the post today, following intense criticism of the way he handled the violent clashes, a state government source said.

Women had to literally 'run the gauntlet' of very drunk men... In the course of the operation numerous crying and shocked women / girls approached officers and told them of sexual assaults by male migrants / groups Senior police officer's report

Wolfgang Albers, 60, said on Tuesday there was no 'information at all about who the attackers were'.

It later emerged that a report compiled by a senior officer mentioned that many of the people they detained 'had with them their registration papers indicating they were asylum seekers'.

The attacks were carried out despite a heavy police deployment in the western German city, and officers have admitted that they did not realise what was happening.

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

Under current laws, asylum seekers are only deported if they have been sentenced to jail terms of at least three years, as long as their lives are not at risk in their countries of origin.

'We need more police, a better equipped judiciary and tougher laws, among other things to more quickly expel criminal foreigners,' said Volker Kauder, the parliamentary leader of Merkel's Christian Democrats.

Cologne's police chief was sacked from the post today, following intense criticism of the way he handled the violent clashes, a state government source said

The Cologne attacks were carried out despite a heavy police deployment in the western German city, and officers have admitted that they did not realise what was happening

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

He added: 'Citizens expect that those without a right to stay really do leave the country.'

As police tried to regain control of Cologne's streets on New Year's Eve, the attackers taunted them by saying: 'You can't do anything to me – I will get myself a new one in the morning.'

They touched our behinds and grabbed between our legs. They touched us everywhere. So my girlfriend wanted to get out of the crowd Anonymous female victim

Outside the city's historic cathedral, where women were groped and one raped, another man told them: 'I am Syrian, I must be handled in a friendly manner. Mrs Merkel invited me here!'

Some of the victims have told of their 'truly terrible' experience, and how they felt completely helpless as they were surrounded, groped and raped by their intoxicated attackers.

One victim, who remains anonymous, said: 'All of a sudden these men around us began groping us.

'They touched our behinds and grabbed between our legs. They touched us everywhere. So my girlfriend wanted to get out of the crowd. When I turned around one guy grabbed my bag and ripped it off my body.'

Another young female victim of the mass attack said: 'I thought to myself that if we stay here in this crowd they could kill us, they could rape us and nobody would notice.

Some of the victims (pictured) have told of their 'truly terrible' experience, and how they felt completely helpless as they were surrounded, groped and raped by their intoxicated attackers

A victim known only as Evelin M said she ran to police cars to get help but 'there was no one there'

DID GERMAN POLICE TRY TO COVER UP ATTACKERS' REFUGEE STATUS? The German police has been plunged into scandal after a report, written by a senior officer, admitted they knew the sex attackers in Cologne on New Year's Eve were mostly asylum seekers. Police chief Wolfgang Albers, 60, said on Tuesday they did not have 'any information at all about who the attackers were'. But police reports from January 2 said 71 people had been stopped, 11 held temporarily and at least four arrested. A police insider told the Welt Am Sonntag newspaper that most of the attackers were asylum seekers, adding: 'Only a small minority were from North Africa, the large majority of those controlled were from Syria.' The senior police officer who compiled a report after the incident wrote: 'Around 22:48... it was observed that there were thousands of people who could not be specifically identified but who had an immigrant background, and were most probably refugees.' A police insider claimed that most of the New Year's Eve attackers were asylum seekers 'The vast majority of those who were checked only had with them their registration papers indicating they were asylum seekers from the BAMF (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) as proof of identity. They had no other identity papers at all.' References to the refugee status of the attackers were said to be removed from the original report. The officer went on to say police did not have enough transport to move the number of people who were arrested that night, contradicting the police chief who said the operation went smoothly. The city's mayor Henriette Reker, 59, said it was irresponsible to speak about the origins of the attackers as the was no information at all supporting suggestions that it was refugees who carried out the attacks. Federal police spokesman Jens Floeren confirmed the authenticity of the report, but noted that it represented one officer's 'subjective assessment' of the incident three days after it happened. Advertisement

'I thought we simply had to accept it. There was no one around us who helped or was in a position to help. All I wanted was to get out.'

One girl, who cannot be named, said she has had nightmares since the attack and struggles to get to sleep.

They [the attackers] felt like they were in power and that they could do anything with the women who were out in the street partying. They touched us everywhere. It was truly terrible Victim, Busra A

She added: 'I am too scared to go outside on my own and of course I'm now scared to go to big cities.'

A victim known only as Evelin M said she ran to police cars to get help but 'there was no one there'.

She added: 'We know very well that the police at that moment were so understaffed that they couldn't deal with this, that we women had to go through something like that

'I tried to somehow defend myself. I tossed my arm backwards. Because of that, I almost fell down the stairs.

'There were so many people there that I no longer was in control of myself where to go or how to defend myself.'

Another woman, Busra A, said: 'They [the attackers] felt like they were in power and that they could do anything with the women who were out in the street partying. They touched us everywhere. It was truly terrible.'

Investigators are trawling through CCTV footage and examining witness accounts to bring the suspects to justice

It emerged today that three Syrians were arrested for gang raping two teenage girls on the night of the attacks, as reports of sexual assaults flood in around the country

A report of the incident, compiled by an unidentified senior police officer, told of how 'several thousand male persons with a migrant background' threw fireworks and bottles into crowds of revelers outside Cologne Cathedral.

It added: 'Women had to literally 'run the gauntlet' of very drunk men. In the course of the operation numerous crying and shocked women / girls approached officers and told them of sexual assaults by male migrants / groups. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to identify them anymore.'

Since these things are happening again and again in our beautiful city and have increased in recent months, we want to and we must do something about it Dusseldorf is Watching vigilante group

Investigators are trawling through CCTV footage and examining witness accounts to bring the suspects to justice.

Another 70 complaints of sexual assault were filed in the northern city of Hamburg, 260 miles from Cologne, with 23 also reporting they had been robbed.

The Dusseldorf Is Watching group, which launched two days ago and is now trying to open up a second branch in Stuttgart, has urged its members to patrol the cities.

It said on its Facebook page: 'After the events at Cologne Central Station... we decided to mobilise in Dusseldorf.

'Since these things are happening again and again in our beautiful city and have increased in recent months, we want to and we must do something about it.

'Each of us has a girlfriend, sister, mother, cousin, aunt, sister or wife. The idea is, on weekends and on various event days, to pass through the town to make it clear with presence that violence to humans is something that will absolutely not be tolerated in our beautiful city!'

Police officers survey the area in front of the main train station and the Cathedral in Cologne almost one week after the New Year's Eve attacks

Police separate the supporters of left and right wing groups in Cologne as tempers and tensions flare over a wave of sexual assaults against women

After the group was launched, and gained thousands of followers overnight, a Dusseldorf police spokesman told local media that German police is responsible for public security.

He said the police had no problem with people acting bravely in the face of crime but they were against 'self proclaimed vigilantes'.

As reports of sexual assaults flood in from around the country, it has emerged that four Syrians were arrested for gang raping two teenage girls in southern Germany on the night of the attacks.

A 21-year-old man, who is a long term German resident, a 15-year-old boy and two 14-year-olds are being held in Weil am Rhein, on the country's border with Switzerland, for the alleged rape of two girls.

They locked up and abused the girls known as Maria, 15, and Aische, 14, after they had all attended a party in the nearby village of Friedlingen, prosecutors said.

None of the suspects were asylum seekers and prosecutors have said they do not believe the incident is connected to the wave of attacks against women in Cologne and other German cities over the New Year.

The girls said they knew and trusted the 21-year-old, who has been named by German media as Mohammed A.

After the events of New Year's Eve when more than 100 women were attacked in the area, the police have bolstered their presence at Cologne Main Station (pictured)

The Dusseldorf Is Watching group, which launched two days ago and is now trying to open up a second branch in Stuttgart, has urged its members to patrol the cities (pictured, police on the streets of Cologne)

They said he persuaded them to come back to his apartment, where he and the others turned violent and subjected them to a two hour long attack.

After they escaped and phoned the police, neighbours told of seeing the Syrians being removed from their house in their underpants and handcuffs.

The feeling women had in this case of being at people's mercy, without any protection, is intolerable for me personally as well... And so it is important for everything that happened there to be put on the table German Chancellor Angela Merkel

The local council leader in the city Annette Huber said she was completely shocked by the crime which took place on December 31, but was only confirmed yesterday.

Meanwhile Germany's under fire Chancellor Angela Merkel, who condemned the attacks as 'repugnant criminal acts, has admitted the country is reviewing whether everything was done to kick out migrants 'who do not respect our law'.

She said: 'We need to re-examine if everything necessary has been done with regards to expulsions to send a clear signal to those who do not respect our law.

'The feeling women had in this case of being at people's mercy, without any protection, is intolerable for me personally as well... And so it is important for everything that happened there to be put on the table.'

The German leader said the country needs to have a 'fundamental' debate about how to integrate new migrants as police identified 16 people suspected of a shocking rash of sexual assaults blamed on migrants.

A victim of the Cologne New Year's Eve attacks, known only as Jenny (pictured), was left with horrific burns on her shoulder after a firework was shoved into the hoodie she was wearing

Another victim Michelle (pictured), 18, told of how she was surrounded by a group of 30 'angry' men who groped her and her friends

As outrage grew over the Cologne assaults, which included two alleged rapes and several accounts of groping, Merkel said citizens were right to raise serious questions.

Merkel said Germany was faced with 'very serious questions that go beyond Cologne' and the attacks showed there was 'in some quarters, contempt for women'.

'We need to confront that with utmost determination,' she said, adding that she did not believe that the cases were isolated.