Two police in the German city of Hamburg were attacked by a group of several Muslims while out on patrol after the Muslims claimed to have been “provoked” by the officers.

The group of Muslim men were finishing their prayers in a car park when the pair of officers arrived on the scene in Hamburg’s St. Georg district this week. According to the police, several residents on Gdansk street alerted the praying Muslims to the presence of the police who were on routine patrol. The situation soon escalated, and the men attacked the police, Die Welt reports.

Police say that group consisted of five men aged between 16 and 25 years old. “After completing the prayer, they were asked to identify themselves. The men did not follow this [order] even after repeated requests, but responded increasingly aggressively,” a local officer told German media.

During the escalation, the officers managed to get a 20-year-old member of the group on the ground and the rest of the group started attacking the officers to free their friend. An 18-year-old jumped on the back of one of the officers as the others were able to pry the police off of the 20-year-old Muslim.

After calming the situation by using pepper spray on the group, the police were able to call in reinforcements to the scene and arrested four of the men. All of them were released soon afterwards. “The police officers were both injured, but could continue their service,” a spokesman for the Hamburg police said.

Earlier this year, police in Hamburg were threatened by a mob of 100 African migrants after a man of Ghanian descent was banned from a local gambling establishment.

While there are no official No Go Zones in Germany, head of the German police union Rainer Wendt has warned that such areas could form in the near future and described areas that police would not be able to properly enforce the law. “There must be consistent law enforcement for those who believe they do not have to stick to the laws in Germany,” he said.

Sweden is well known for its No Go Zones and police have estimated there to be at least 55 areas they consider to be largely off limits to routine police patrols. One of the most notorious no go areas is the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby which saw rioting and looting late last month. Rinkeby, like many other No Go Zones, is heavily populated by recent migrants to Sweden.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart.com