11 injured in blast in German city of Ansbach; suspected bomber killed in explosion

11 injured by explosion at a restaurant in German city; suspected bomber killed in blast, said the city police

Police outside a Munich mall where German-Iranian man unleashed a shooting spree on Friday

Berlin: Some 11 people were injured by an explosion at a restaurant in the southern German city of Ansbach. The authorities, however said that the man killed by an explosion late on Sunday was the one who set off the blast, local police said.

At least 12 other people were injured in the explosion, which went off close to a bar in the city centre at around 10:00 pm (2000 GMT).

Some 2,500 people were gathered nearby for an open-air music festival, which local media reported may have been the real target.

"An explosion went off in the city centre and a man, which the latest enquiries show caused it, was killed in the event," police said in a statement. 

A dozen people were injured in the explosion, three of them seriously, added a spokeswoman, without giving any more details.

Police have blocked off the city centre and emergency services were on the scene. Bomb experts were on their way to determine the cause of the explosion.

"The explosion was set off deliberately," said Michael Siefener, a spokesman for the regional interior ministry, adding that authorities were trying to establish the exact cause.

A Syrian refugee set off an explosion at a bar in southern Germany that killed himself and wounded 12 others late on Sunday, German media agency DPA reported citing the local interior minister.

The 27-year-old man, whose asylum application had been rejected a year ago, had intended to disrupt a nearby pop music festival where 2,500 people had gathered, Joachim Herrmann said, according to DPA.

The blast is the third incident to hit the southern German state of Bavaria in a week, after nine were killed in a shooting rampage in Munich and several were wounded in an axe attack on a train.

Europe has been on edge for months after a string of deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, including bombings in Brussels and carnage at Bastille Day celebrations in the southern French city of Nice