Anti-terror police carry out 13 raids across Germany as cops swoop to foil ‘imminent threat’
Main suspect planned to join Isis in Syria, local media report
ANTI-terrorist police in Germany have swooped in five states in raids directed against suspected Chechen asylum seekers linked to Isis.
Thirteen properties in Germany were searched and at least one arrest made. A number of computers, notebooks and other material relating to Jihadism were seized.
Media described the raids as a response to an "imminent terror threat."
Operatives of elite police anti-terrorism units, the SEK, were scrambled across states, including Thuringia, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Bavaria.
Explosive sniffer dogs were deployed in the town of Suhl where a non-descript apartment block was among the addresses searched.
The arrested man there was taken into custody after "white powder" was discovered in his home.
It is not immediately clear what the substance is.
related stories
A 28-year-old suspect described as a “Russian national of Chechen descent” with links to Isis was the main target of the hunt to prevent what authorities described "a serious act of violence" in the planning.
Other suspects are 10 men and three women, all with alleged Islamist backgrounds and either Chechens or with links to Chechnya.
They are said to live in the state of Thuringia and the cities of Hamburg and Dortmund.
Fighters returning from Iraq and Syria have told authorities that Isis has made Germany a prime target for a large-scale atrocity like the carnage it caused in Paris in November last year.
Unlike neighbouring France and Belgium, Germany had seen no large-scale terrorist attacks until the summer of this year when it suffered a suicide bombing attempt and three lone-wolf assaults in the space of a week.
In all cases, the perpetrators either had direct links to Isis or were inspired by radicalism.
The most recent terrorist plot was foiled in early October in the eastern city of Chemnitz, when a 22-year-old Syrian national was captured after a two-day manhunt. He later killed himself in jail.
For the latest news on this story keep checking back at Sun Online, where we will bring you live updates as soon as they happen, before anyone else.
Like us on Facebook at , and follow us from our main Twitter account at , where we will bring you this story and all the rest of the top news and exclusives of the day.
is your go to destination for the best celebrity news, football news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video