BERLIN — German police raided 11 properties in Berlin and arrested two people suspected of providing financial support and recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria, the police said Friday.
The raids, conducted by 250 police officers, came shortly after Belgian police on Thursday killed two people who are believed to have prepared attacks.
The police took two Turkish citizens into custody during a raid in Germany’s capital on Friday morning. The investigations into five Turkish citizens aged 31 to 44 have been ongoing for months, the police said. The suspects are believed to have been engaged in preparing serious acts of violence against the state in Syria, the Police said in a statement. They are also suspected of money laundering, the police added.
There is no evidence that the group was planning any attacks in Germany, the police said.
The two men arrested are a 41-year-old who is believed to be the leader of an Islamist extremist group with mainly Turkish and Russian citizens of Chechen and Dagestani origin, and a 43-year-old who is believed to have provided financial and organizational support to members of the group who have traveled to Syria.
In a separate incident late on Thursday, German police also arrested a 26-year-old man who holds a German and a Tunisian passport. Federal prosecutors said the man, who was in Syria from May to August last year, is suspected of being a member of Islamic State.
There is no indication that the suspect has prepared any concrete attacks, the police said. German security officials estimate that some 550 Islamists have left Germany and headed to Syria since 2012. Officials are concerned that those returning may have become further radicalized and gained military training. (Andrea Thomas – Wall Street Journal)
Link:http://www.wsj.com/articles/two-men-held-on-suspicion-of-isis-support-after-berlin-police-raid-1421401111
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