THE alleged author of more than 100 neonazi threats targeting national and regional politicians was arrested in a raid on his Berlin home on Monday, German authorities confirmed yesterday.

The 53-year-old is accused of sending a series of race-baiting, insulting and threatening letters since August 2018.

Many of the messages were signed “from the NSU 2.0,” a reference to the now disbanded National Socialist Underground (NSU), a far-right terrorist group responsible for a number of murders and terrorist actions against immigrants and prominent left-wing figures.

Interior Minister for the state of Hesse, Peter Beuth, said in March that a total of 115 letters had been sent to 32 people and 60 institutions in nine German states.

Public prosecutors in Frankfurt said that the suspect had a series of prior convictions for extremist activities.

Far-right extremism is on the rise in Germany. Last year scores of serving police officials were suspected of involvement in WhatsApp groups that circulated neonazi propaganda material.

Earlier this year German fascist Stephan Ernst was jailed for life for the murder of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician Walter Lubcke, in what was the country’s first political assassination since the second world war.