The head of German domestic intelligence has quit following a scandal regarding the service's mishandling of an investigation into a neo-Nazi cell.

Heinz Fromm resigned Monday after information emerged that officers from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had shredded key documents relating to the murder of at least 10 people, mostly Turksih immigrants, by the group.

The 63-year-old Fromm took over the office in 2000, the same year that the murders began.

Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Fromm was "surprised and distressed about the mistakes by employees in his authority."

"He is, like me, deeply worried about the resulting loss of confidence in the domestic intelligence agency," the minister added.

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