Story highlights Fallout continues in Germany from apparently coordinated attacks on women

More than 100 sex assaults and muggings were reported in Cologne on New Year's Eve

The victims said the assailants were gangs of men who appeared to be Arab or North African

Berlin (CNN) Cologne's mayor has come under fire for advising women to stay "an arm's length" from male strangers after alleged sexual assaults and muggings during New Year's Eve festivities in the German city.

Germany has been shocked by the apparently coordinated crime wave, in which Cologne police received more than 100 criminal complaints from women who said they had been sexually assaulted or robbed by gangs of men of Arab or North African appearance in the city center during New Year's Eve festivities. Cologne police would not elaborate Wednesday on the total number of crimes reported, as the figure continued to rise.

Police have said that about a quarter of the complaints related to sexual assaults, including a rape, and that they believed the assaults were probably intended to distract the victims, allowing attackers to steal mobile phones and other devices.

Three suspects had been identified and were being questioned, a police representative told CNN. Police were working through a large amount of cellphone footage from the evening to identify further suspects.

Similar attacks were reported in Hamburg on New Year's Eve, with 39 reported sexual assaults and 14 robberies, according to police in the city, while police in Stuttgart said two women had reported their phones were missing after they were assaulted by a group of men of Arab appearance during New Year's festivities there.

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