Islamic extremist network busted in Germany in large-scale raid

BARCELONA, Spain – German police have busted a network of Islamic extremists in a large-scale operation,  arresting nine people believed to be supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) and other radical groups, German media reported.

They quoted officials as saying that some 240 police officers searched dozens of flats belonging to more than 40 suspects in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatine Bavaria.

The suspects are believed to have helped smuggle jihadists to Syria and committed burglaries to support ISIS and other extremist groups.

Burkhard Freier, head of the secret service in North Rhine-Westphalia, was quoted as saying that the operation had been “a great success” in the fight against radical groups.  "They were a large network, which had been active in several states,” he said.

Two of the people arrested in Cologne were identified as 58-year-old Pakistani citizen, Mirza Tamoor, and a 31-year-old German citizen identified only by the initials, B.O. Both helped support terror organizations in Syria, such as ISIS, and the German was accused of helping at least three people join ISIS in Syria.

Seven other German nationals with migrant backgrounds were arrested at the request of the prosecution in Cologne, reports said.

The alleged members of the group are said to have burgled churches and schools, sending the money raised from selling the loot directly to Islamic fighters in Syria, or to finance the travel expenses of volunteers going for jihad.

Authorities in Cologne, who started investigating the Islamic supporters since May 2013, said the network was operating under the pretext of providing humanitarian aid to children and families in Syria and had also raised money through charity events  

Some 450 German citizens are reported to have travelled to Syria to join jihadist organization like ISIS. Authorities in Germany and other European countries that have citizens fighting in jihads see them as security risks once they return.

Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency warned recently of a rising number of Islamist militants inside Germany ready to join ISIS in Iraq and Syria. It also warned of an increased risk of violent clashes on German streets between rival radical groups.

Germany has already experienced some of that violence.

In October, police used pepper spray and batons to restore order, following clashes between Yezidi Kurds and pro-ISIS Chechen Muslims in the German cities of Hamburg and Celle.

In September, Germany banned activities supporting ISIS in the country, such as the display of the group´s flag.  

Germany is part of the US-led coalition of countries assembled to defeat ISIS, providing arms, experts and training for Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.