The silhouettes of the church St. Jacob and towers of the castle in Koethen, Germany | Jens Wolf/AFP via Getty Images Death of 22-year-old German sparks concern of second Chemnitz Two Afghan men were arrested in connection with the incident, according to police.

Police in the German city of Köthen arrested two Afghan men on Sunday in connection with the death of a 22-year-old local man, in an incident that drew comparisons to a fatal stabbing in Chemnitz.

The suspects — both Afghan citizens — were arrested over their involvement in the brawl that sent the 22-year-old to hospital, where he died of heart failure. His death was "not directly linked" to the fight, according to the police. One suspect, age 18, faces charges of assault and battery, while the other stands accused of assault and battery with death.

The man's death comes soon after violent far-right protests rocked the city of Chemnitz, in eastern Germany, following the killing of a 35-year-old German man in late August, allegedly by two migrants. The demonstrations sparked a tense national debate over immigration, the role of Islam, and the country's fascist past.

"With emotions running high, we have to resist any attempt to turn Köthen into a second Chemnitz," the minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, told DPA news agency.

"The violent death of a person must always be condemned. The relatives need our sympathy, and Köthen needs prudence," Katja Pähle, the leader of the Social Democratic faction in Saxony-Anhalt's regional parliament, said on Twitter on Sunday, warning against entering "a spiral of violence."

André Wendt, a politician with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), reacted with an attack on the "establishment," tweeting: "The killing goes on, but establishment parties and media have nothing else to do but defame worried citizens and silence critics."

Far-right groups — including the former leader of a banned neo-Nazi group — drew parallels to Chemnitz and called for a Trauermarsch, or a march to commemorate the victim, according to reports.

Around 2,500 people attended the march Sunday evening, according to authorities, which reported no major incidents.

This article has been updated.