BERLIN — The federal German prosecutor's agency announced on Wednesday that five alleged Islamic State members were arrested in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for planning terrorism attacks against US forces.
“They jointly founded a so-called cell in Germany. They initially planned to travel to Tajikistan to take part in fighting against the government as part of the armed ‘jihad.’ After the accused had refrained from this project, they now intended to commit fatal attacks in Germany,” said the prosecutor in a statement.
The suspected Islamic State members formed their terror cell in January, 2019.
The prosecutor said the Islamic State members were in contact with high-level Islamic leaders in Syria and Afghanistan from whom they received directives.
The Islamic State cell planned to attack American forces in Germany as well individuals.
According to the prosecutor, the Islamic State cell “planned a murder attempt on a person who, from the perspective of the accused, had made public statements that were critical of the Islam. Against this background, the targeted murder victim has already been spied on by the accused Farhodshoh K. US Air Force bases in Germany were also scouted.”
The terrorist "cell already had live firearms and ammunition to carry out the attack plans. In addition, the accused Ravsan B. provided instructions for the manufacture of so-called unconventional explosive and fire devices (USBV). Some of the components required for this have already been acquired through internet mail order," said the prosecutor.
The prosecutor added that "To finance their plans and the 'Islamic State' in Syria, the accused collected money in Germany and transferred it to the association via financial agents located in Turkey. In order to provide the association with additional funds, the accused Ravsan B. accepted an order worth $ 40,000 for a murder attack in Albania."
The alleged terrorists were not abled to carry out the murder in Albania. The suspects are Tajikistan nationals named as Azizjon B, Muhammadali G, Farhodshoh K, Sunatullokh K, and Ravsan B. Germany declines to provide the last names of the suspects due to privacy protection reasons.Ravsan B. was arrested in March, 2019 and the other four ISIS suspects were arrested on Wednesday.