The four employees, who were discharged last years on account of their far-right affiliations, included one civilian and three soldiers, according to Germany's Military Counterintelligence Service, MAD (Militärischer Abschirmdienst).

Two of those dismissed were reportedly members of the extremist NPD party, which the German government is currently trying to have banned, one of them in a leading position.

At least one of those dismissed was sent into early retirement as a result of the investigation.

E

extremist views more common than expected

There were 19 other cases in 2015, in which soldiers were dismissed for their involvement in various far-right activities. But in a large number of other such cases the soldiers were allowed back in following certain disciplinary measures and penalties.

A total of 230 cases were examined last year on suspicion of extremist right-wing involvement, with an tally of 149 confirmed cases. In 2016, there have been 22 reports so far of suspected Neonazi or racist activity among members of the armed forces, which are currently being followed up.

The government is currently working on changing a law whereby prospective recruits would be allowed to be questioned about their past political affiliations - which currently is banned in Germany. With the proposed change in law, applicants would also be checked against police and intelligence databases.

The aim of the exercise is to weed out potential right-wing extremists or Islamists from the military.

ss/rg(AFD, dpa)