UPDATED 3.48pm The suicide bomber who blew himself up and injured at least 10 others in the German city of Ansbach may well have had his eye on a much larger casualty count.

Officials have identified the attacker as a 27-year-old Syrian man who had been denied asylum.

He died in the explosion, while 12 others were injured, three of them seriously.

He detonated his explosive device outside a restaurant, after being turned away from a music festival attended by around 2,500 people.

The man's asylum was rejected a year ago but he was allowed to remain in Germany due to the volatile situation in Syria.

He had been in psychiatric care in the district hospital in Ansbach following a suicide attempt.

However, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann could not rule out that today's bombing was an Islamist terror attack.