A soldier was shot by police during a large-scale exercise of the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces, in the southern Bavarian city of Erding, officials said on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Bundeswehr's Operational Command told German media that a misunderstanding had led to a shot being fired between troops taking part in the exercise and police who had been called by local residents.

The soldier has since been discharged from hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries, according to the spokesperson and local police. 

Why did German police shoot at military troops?

As part of an exercise called Marshal Power, the Bundeswehr is currently carrying out an exercise involving some 500 military police as well as hundreds of first responders from police, fire and rescue services.

The drills are being conducted in public spaces in a dozen Bavarian towns and cities to the north of Munich, including in Erding, to rehearse for an attack on a NATO member state. 

Bavarian police said they had been responding to reports of a man carrying a weapon and deployed multiple units to the southeast of Erding, including a helicopter, early on Wednesday evening.

According to German daily Bild, the military police fired practice ammunition at the arriving police officers, believing this was part of the military exercise. 

The police officers then reportedly fired back with live ammunition, hitting one of the soldiers.

"Due to a misinterpretation at the scene, shots were fired," the Bavarian police said in a statement.

"It later transpired that the person carrying a weapon was a member of the German armed forces, who was on site as part of an exercise," the statement added.

It said state criminal police, together with local officers, are conducting an investigation into the incident.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar