HAMBURG: Police shot and injured a man who threatened them with an axe and a Molotov cocktail ahead of a Euro 2024 match in Hamburg on Sunday, German authorities said.

The incident triggered a `major operation` in the city`s St Pauli district, police said on X, formerly Twitter. A 39-year-old German man has been identified as a suspect, police sources said.

There was no indication of a link to the Euro 2024 clash between Poland and the Netherlands that took place later on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

The attacker `came out of a pub with a pickaxe and a Molotov cocktail and threatened the police`, the spokesman said, adding that the suspect was shot in the leg.

The police also said on X that the suspect was injured and receiving medical treatment. The incident took place near the Reeperbahn station, more than a kilometre away from the city`s official fan zone.

`He apparently tried to set fire to this Molotov cocktail and then approached several people including police officers, and the police officers then had to make use of their firearms,` said Hamburg police spokesperson Sandra Levgruen.-Agencies