Germany arrests 7 men from Central Asia suspected of having ties to ISIS

GENEVA (AA): Germany has arrested seven people in North Rhine-Westphalia state, all belonging to Central Asian countries. The arrests were made on suspicion of channeling funds to a “terrorist group” and establishing a local militant network to carry out attacks.

The seven men, five from Tajikistan and one each from Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, are accused of funding a “terrorist organization” with suspected links to the ISIS, according to a press release from Germany’s top prosecutor’s office.

“It was also closely coordinated with investigation authorities in the Netherlands where two more individuals were arrested,” the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said, referring to the arrest of a 29-year-old Tajik man and his Kyrgyz wife (31) earlier in the day by Dutch authorities.

The Netherlands authorities said the couple has been in the country since 2022 and were suspected of committing “preparatory acts for terrorism offenses” and possible membership of ISIS.

German prosecutor’s office said in the statement that shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, these seven accused allegedly entered Germany together and formed a “terrorist organization” in late June last year, with the aim of carrying out “high-profile attacks in Germany in the spirit of Daesh.”

“The suspects had already contemplated targets in Germany, scouted potential crime scenes, and attempted to procure weapons. Nevertheless, there was no tangible terrorist plot at the time of today’s arrest,” it added.

The group was in contact with members of the ISIS offshoot in Khorasan, according to the statement.

Under the moniker “Khorasan,” ISIS formed a group known as IS-K in June 2014, which includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other neighboring South and Central Asian countries.

According to media reports, IS-K head Sanaullah Ghaffari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir, was killed in the northwestern Kunar province of Afghanistan in the first week of June. He was responsible for a number of deadly attacks in Afghanistan, including a suicide bombing at Kabul Airport in August 2021 that killed over 180 people. The interim Taliban administration, however, has yet to confirm his death.