Four were held, three later released due to lack of grounds for detention

A mob of 30 migrants chased three teenage girls through a German mall before threatening police officers, local media has reported.

The men, thought to be from Afghanistan, are said to have used their smartphones to film the girls at the Sophienhof mall in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein state.

Police officers were called out after several shoppers reported that 30 men of 'immigrant background' were following the girls, aged 15, 16 and 17.

The men, thought to be from Afghanistan, are said to have used their smartphones to film the girls at the Sophienhof mall (pictured) in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein state

The men 'insulted, threatened and sometimes injured' the policemen as they tried to arrest some of the alleged perpetrators, Bild reported.

Four men, including the two main culprits, were later arrested but three of them have since been released due to 'lack of grounds for detention'.

They are said to have resisted arrest and became violent with officers.

Businesses in the shopping mall have reported an 'increasing number of thefts' and customers being 'molested' by migrants.

Several other young girls have told police they were harassed too since the incident received media attention.

Interior Minister Stefan Studt warned against drawing comparisons to the mass molestation of women in Cologne (pictured) on New Year's Eve

Interior Minister Stefan Studt said the incident was 'unacceptable' and that Germans 'need to be able to live freely in this country.'

He warned against drawing comparisons to the mass molestation of women in Cologne on New Year's Eve.

But FDP leader Wolfgang Kubicki said the newest incident should act as a wake up call that the country's open border immigration policy was failing.