The federal prosecutor’s office had two men arrested by special forces from the federal police in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg on Wednesday morning. As gang leaders, the two Germans are said to have tried to found a terrorist organization.
Their goal: to set up a mercenary force that interferes in the civil war in Yemen, fights – and kills!
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Arend-Adolf G. and Achim A. planned to set up a paramilitary unit of between 100 and 150 men – mainly ex-soldiers and ex-police officers. They reckoned with a mercenary wage of 40,000 euros a month.
They wanted to “pacify” the civil war area and force peace negotiations between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government, according to the statement from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. In the medium term, they wanted to become active in other war zones as a so-called private military company.
According to BILD information, the accused belong to the leadership of the Asgaard mercenary troop, which is known to be scandalous and which sent mercenaries to Somalia in 2010 and was also present in Iraq.
The two accused were aware that the mercenary troops would “inevitably have to carry out acts of killing” when they were deployed. They also expected civilians to be killed and injured.
It also said that they were hoping for financial support from third parties, mainly from the government of Saudi Arabia. To this end, they persistently contacted Saudi government agencies, which, however, showed no reaction, so that the establishment of their terrorist organization has so far been unsuccessful.
The accused’s homes were also searched.
“The accused will be brought before the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice today (October 20, 2021), who will decide on the execution of pre-trial detention,” said the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.