German Raids Target Seven Alleged IS Supporters

W460

German police on Tuesday raided the homes of seven people on suspicion they supported the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) fighting in Syria and Iraq, authorities said.

They were suspected of having planned a "serious subversive act of violence", said Bavaria state's interior and justice ministers in a statement.

The raids were based on information that an ambulance vehicle financed through fundraising events in Germany was taken to Syria and turned into an improvised military personnel carrier with a mounted semi-automatic gun.

Other off-road vehicles were also taken to the combat zone, where IS jihadists have swept across a large area of war-torn Syria and Iraq in recent months, they said.

No arrests were made, but evidence including computer hard drives were seized when police raided the homes of five suspects in Bavaria and others in Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia states, they said.

Berlin this month formally outlawed active support for the IS group, including recruiting fighters and social media propaganda.

Security agencies estimate that 400 German citizens have been or are fighting with the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

On September 15, alleged IS fighter Kreshnik Berisha, 20, went on trial charged with membership of a foreign terrorist organisation.

Four days later prosecutors brought formal charges against suspects identified only as Karolina M., 25, and Jennifer Vincenza M. and Ahmed-Sadiq M., both 22, accused of sending money and camera equipment to help IS make propaganda videos.

And on Monday this week police said they had arrested an unidentified Turkish man in Berlin suspected of having received arms and explosives training and having fought with IS.

Comments 0