German police arrest 2 Algerians ‘linked to IS’

Feb 4 Berlin police had a previous lead that the German capital could be the target of an attack when conducting raids on Thursday in a search for men suspected of links to Islamic State militants, a spokesman said. The German newspaper “Bild” meanwhile claimed that the suspects had been plotting to attack Berlin’s Alexanderplatz – a central shopping and entertainment square as well as a major regional transportation hub.

“We know that at least one of the men received military training” in an ISIS terror camp, Berlin police spokesman spokesman Stefan Redlich told NBC News.

Some 450 officers took part in the operation in Berlin and the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, and seized computers and mobile telephones. The arrests were based on existing warrants in other cases, and a woman who isn’t under investigation in the current case also was detained on an unrelated warrant, he said.

Authorities suspect that the four men had contacts with the IS group and say that one of them – the man arrested in Attendorn – is sought by Algerian authorities for belonging to the extremist group.

A 35-year-old Algerian man, who is believed to be in charge of a terrorist cell, was arrested in refugee accommodation in Attendorn, south of Dortmund.

Germany took in more than 1.1 million asylum seekers a year ago, with the majority coming from war-torn Syria.

Redlich said the probe started in December and there was no specific trigger for staging the raids on Thursday, noting that searches in multiple locations require preparation. It also wasn’t immediately clear how long the suspects had been in Germany. Steltner said the suspicion is that an attack in Berlin was planned.

German media reported police as saying that the main suspect was arrested in a shelter for migrants in Attendorn. “Therefore there should be a systematic crackdown on the Islamist scene, especially if there are likely links to IS”, he said, referring to ISIS.

German authorities cancelled a friendly global football match in Hanover last year and closed stations in Munich at New Year due to security concerns.