Berlin police search suspected Islamic extremists' homes

Berlin police search sus

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Taliban threatens Germany 248.88 (photo credit: )
Taliban threatens Germany 248.88
(photo credit: )
Authorities in Berlin on Wednesday searched more than two dozen buildings connected to three alleged Islamic extremists suspected of planning to carry out attacks in Russia. Prosecutors said some 140 police officers launched a dawn raid on 26 residences and other locations in Berlin. Holger Freund, a spokesman for Berlin prosecutors, said the investigation was focused on three German men with "Arabic backgrounds" aged 28, 30 and 36 living in Berlin, but declined to identify them further. Freund said police did not have sufficient evidence at this point to arrest them or anyone else in an extremist group that is believed to include between 15 and 24 people. "The suspects are believed to have been planning an attack on Russia," but it was unclear where in the country and how exactly the group members might be involved, Freund said. "There are indications that there was an extremist Islamic motivation and that people closely connected to the three had traveled to Pakistan to attend training camps," he said. Freund said that computers, various data storage devices and outdoor clothing had been confiscated during the searches. The material is being analyzed. Freund further noted there was no indication the group had any connection to a recent spate of threatening videos aimed at Germany by German-speaking Islamic extremists, which have mentioned the country's troop presence in Afghanistan. German authorities were tipped off to the presence and alleged plans of the trio by information from Russian police, Freund said.