BERLIN: Authorities in Germany are monitoring almost 500 extremists they believe pose a potential security threat, officials said on Friday, a day after the arrest of three men suspected of planning to carry out an attack in the country for the Daesh group.
The men, identified only as Syrian citizens were arrested in three separate locations across Germany following a tip from a fourth suspect who had approached French authorities earlier this year.
While Germany hasn’t suffered mass-casualty attacks by extremists of the type seen in France and Belgium over recent months, authorities say the country is a target and the risk of attacks is high.
“It’s definitely too soon for a fundamental reassessment in light of what happened yesterday,” Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said, adding that authorities will have to await the outcome of prosecutors’ investigation.
All three of those arrested in Germany were living in refugee shelters, adding to concerns that Daesh might be sending fighters to Germany disguised as asylum-seekers. Almost 1.1 million people were registered as asylum-seekers in Germany last year, many of them fleeing war and persecution in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dimroth said authorities had received regular tips about possible extremists coming to Germany as asylum-seekers and were systematically checking those reports.
The men, identified only as Syrian citizens were arrested in three separate locations across Germany following a tip from a fourth suspect who had approached French authorities earlier this year.
While Germany hasn’t suffered mass-casualty attacks by extremists of the type seen in France and Belgium over recent months, authorities say the country is a target and the risk of attacks is high.
“It’s definitely too soon for a fundamental reassessment in light of what happened yesterday,” Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said, adding that authorities will have to await the outcome of prosecutors’ investigation.
All three of those arrested in Germany were living in refugee shelters, adding to concerns that Daesh might be sending fighters to Germany disguised as asylum-seekers. Almost 1.1 million people were registered as asylum-seekers in Germany last year, many of them fleeing war and persecution in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dimroth said authorities had received regular tips about possible extremists coming to Germany as asylum-seekers and were systematically checking those reports.
