Arrests in North Rhine-Westphalia
attacks planned? – Islamist terror cell dismantled
Those arrested are said to have had the aim of “carrying out high-profile attacks in Germany in the spirit of IS”. photo
© Bernd Thissen/dpa
Targets in Germany scouted out, possible crime scenes explored – a suspected terrorist cell has been exposed. Seven suspects are arrested, two more in the Netherlands.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office in North Rhine-Westphalia has a suspected Islamist Terror cell uncovered and seven suspects arrested.
The men, who mainly come from Tajikistan, are accused of founding a terrorist organization in Germany and planning attacks, as the supreme German prosecutor announced on Thursday in Karlsruhe. They are also said to have supported the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS).
Another man from Tajikistan and his Kyrgyz wife were reportedly arrested by Dutch authorities. According to the Dutch police, the couple is also suspected of having prepared terrorist crimes.
Contact with members of a regional IS affiliate
The men arrested in Germany are five suspects from Tajikistan and two others from Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. They have a radical Islamic attitude. Shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, they entered Germany together and formed a terrorist organization. The aim was “to perpetrate high-profile attacks in Germany in the spirit of IS,” the federal prosecutor said.
The association also owned the Tajik arrested in the Netherlands. The group was in contact with members of the regional IS branch “Islamic State Province of Khorasan” (ISPK). Possible targets of attacks in Germany have already been targeted and possible crime scenes have been scouted out. In addition, the accused had tried to procure weapons. However, there has not yet been a concrete attack plan. Six of the suspects arrested in Germany have been collecting money for IS since April 2022 and transferring it abroad.
The seven suspects arrested in North Rhine-Westphalia were arrested at different locations. A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office did not want to give any further details. The men should be brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe later that day and this Friday. The couple from the Netherlands should appear before the examining magistrate in Rotterdam this Friday.