GERMAN police swooped last night to arrest six members of an alleged neonazi terrorist ring who sought to subvert the state and impose fascist rule.

The group, known as “Revolution Chemnitz,” sought to emulate fellow extremist group the National Socialist Underground (NSU), which murdered 10 people in a 2011 bomb attack.

Federal prosecutors said in a statement: “To this end, they intended to launch violent and armed attacks against foreigners and people who have different political views.”

Police intercepted telephone calls between members of the group and uncovered plans to carry out a major attack on Germany’s National Unity Day tomorrow.

It is not clear whether the terrorist ring was involved in the far-right marches in Chemnitz that followed the murder of a Cuban-German, a crime allegedly committed by an asylum-seeker.

However, five of the six arrested yesterday went to Chemnitz last month “armed with glass bottles, weighted knuckle gloves and an electroshock appliance, [and] attacked and hurt several foreign residents.”

Prosecutors alleged that it was a test run for a larger attack that one of the group had planned for October 3.

Along with migrants and foreigners, the extremists also intended to target left-wing politicians and journalists, whom they described as “the media dictatorship and its slaves.”

Interior Minister Roland Woeller said the arrests were “a clear signal that we are identifying and breaking up such right-wing terrorist structures early.”

The authorities have come under fire recently, facing allegations that they knew of the activities of the NSU but failed to act and make arrests promptly.

The far right is on the rise, with Alternative for Germany having 94 MPs elected to parliament last September, making it the largest opposition party.

“The network under investigation does not stand in isolation, ” Justice Minister Katarina Barley warned.