Four German men face charges after a racially-motivated attack against two students from Israel and Yemen in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, police said Sunday.

The students were set upon in a tram on Friday afternoon by five men, who punched them and uttered racial slurs. One of the attackers threatened the students with a knife, witnesses said.

The tram driver alerted police, who arrested four of the attackers, aged between 35 and 46. Police said the quartet face charges of inciting racial hatred, threatening behavior and causing bodily harm.

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The 21-year-old and 26-year-old students, who police said fought back against their attackers, were not seriously injured in the incident.

The attack comes amid new figures that show a sharp rise in right-wing crime which is often directed against foreigners in Germany.

Some 11,254 offences attributed to rightists were committed in the first 11 months of 2006, about 1,000 more than in the same period of 2005, according to provisional police figures.