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German Police Carry out Anti-Terror Raids in 4 States | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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German police secure the main train station in Munich, Germany, January 1, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle


Cologne (German)- German police backed by anti-terror units raided homes in four states on Wednesday, targeting ISIS sympathizers, authorities said.

Prosecutors said the suspects are believed to be connected to Abdul Rahman A.K., a Syrian arrested in 2016 who was suspected of planning a bombing attack, and another Syrian arrested last week in Leipzig on ISIS membership charges.

The raids were carried in Berlin, Bavaria, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt on Wednesday morning, federal prosecutors’ spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said in a statement.

Apartments and other locations were searched to collect evidence in the ongoing investigation.

Two suspects are accused of membership in a terrorist organization on allegations they belong to ISIS, while the third is suspected of supporting a terrorist organization. Two are also accused of weapons violations.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière lauded the performance of the anti-terror police, saying “security forces have been lately acting seriously in the fight against world terrorism.”

Last week, security forces arrested a man on terrorism charges in the state of Saxony.

Abdul Rahman A.K. was first heard of in the media as part of arrests of a sleeper cell plotting an attack in the city of Dusseldorf in June last year.

Security forces at the time arrested him along with two other Syrian terrorists, Hamza S. and Mahoud B.

The leader of the network, Salah A., later surrendered to French authorities and admitted to plotting the attack.