March 6, 2018 - Germany's domestic security service is investigating an acid attack on a manager of an energy company that has been the target of environmental protesters, a news report said on Monday.

Two unidentified male assailants had hurled acid on Sunday at the face of Bernhard Guenther, 51, chief financial officer with Essen-based company Innogy, a subsidiary of energy giant RWE.

Bernhard Guenther

Guenther suffered severe injuries in the attack in a park in Haan near Duesseldorf and was taken by ambulance helicopter to hospital where he was in a stable condition.

Innogy said in a statement Sunday that so far there was "no information on the motivation for the attack".

Police launched an attempted murder probe and were investigating whether the attack may have been related to Guenther's personal or professional life.

Bild daily reported that the domestic security service, which is in charge of politically motivated crime, was investigating.

RWE has long been engaged in a battle with environmental protesters over its open-pit coal mining operations, including at the flashpoint forest site Hambacher Forst where activists have lived in a protest camp for years. 

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