German police have arrested five Tajik nationals on suspicion that they were members of an Islamic State (IS) terror group cell that had been planning attacks on US forces stationed in Germany, prosecutors said Wednesday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Four of the suspects were reportedly arrested after dawn raids on Wednesday targeting several apartments and six other locations in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Another Tajik national was previously detained.
The five were also allegedly planning attacks on individuals they deemed critical of Islam, prosecutors in the city of Karlsruhe said.
The suspects -- named as Azizjon B., Muhammadali G., Farhodshoh K., Sunatulloh K. and Ravsan B. -- are accused of joining the Islamic State terror group in January 2019 and initially planning to carry out attacks in Tajikistan.
They then switched their focus to Germany after receiving instructions from two high-ranking IS leaders in Syria and Afghanistan, prosecutors said.
The five men had been planning to attack targets including US air bases and had already ordered bomb parts online, as well as stocking up on firearms and ammunition.
They reportedly also planned an assassination attempt on a person they believed had expressed Islam-critical views in public, and had already begun spying on the intended victim, prosecutors said.
Two of the suspects are also accused of travelling to Albania to carry out an assassination attempt in exchange for 40,000 U.S. dollars. However, the project failed and they returned to Germany.
Russia to set up a state-owned operator for the organized recruitment of labor migrants
Tajikistan has to use alternative energy sources more actively in support of hydropower
Central Asian labor migrants working in Russia face fury and raids
The death toll in the Krasnogorsk concert hall attack rises to 143
How Japan supports Tajikistan's health sector
The United States expected to issue more special immigration visas for former Afghan allies
Onion prices in Asia and Middle East are going up after extension of export ban by India
Tajik ambassador, Uzbek foreign minister discuss cooperation issues
Ex-deputy head of Kyrgyz Customs Service Rayimbek Matraimov extradited from Baku to Bishkek
Presentation of a bronze engraving depicting President Rahmon takes place in Dushanbe
All news
Авторизуйтесь, пожалуйста