Nuremberg train station shut down for counter-terrorism drill amid security concerns over right-wing extremists (VIDEO)

Nuremberg's central train station was shut down on Tuesday evening as 300 German police officers took part in a counter-terrorism exercise on-site, with cops taking turns at playing armed attackers targeting rail passengers.

Hundreds more in support staff were involved in the drills, described by Middle Franconia Head of Police Roman Fertinger as the “largest in 20 years.”

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann stressed that the exercise had been planned for months and not directly as a result of last week’s attack outside a synagogue in Halle, but added they’re “a consequence of the threat scenarios we have in Germany.”

Two people were killed by an armed assailant in Halle, east Germany on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. The suspect cited right-wing and anti-Semitic motives for the attack.

Hermann said the threat of attack in Germany “has not diminished” and incidents in recent months, including the Halle attack and the assassination of local politician Walter Luebcke, show “that there are obviously more people in the right-wing extremist area who are ready for even the most brutal violence, such as committing murder.”

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