ISIS cell broken up in Germany
Thursday 16/April/2020 - 07:42 PM
The reference (Berlin).
German special forces have succeeded in arresting the members of an ISIS-affiliated cell in Neuss, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The members of the cell are all nationals of Tajikistan, who had sworn allegiance to ISIS before, German authorities said.
They planned to stage a series of attacks in different areas, they added.
The cell was made up of five members who had been collecting information about U.S. military bases in Germany, the authorities said.
They also planned to assassination a number of critics of the Islamic religion.
The members of the cell had previously applied for political asylum in Germany.
Instructions coming from Syria
The members of the cell had reportedly joined ISIS in January 2019. They initially planned to return to Tajikistan to stage holy war against the government. However, they changed their plan after ISIS was defeated in Syria and Iraq.
According to German authorities, the members of the cell maintained good contacts with ISIS commanders in Syria.
They received instructions from the ISIS command in Syria, the authorities said.
They added that an ISIS commander, codenamed "Abu Fatma" was the point of contact between the members of the cell and the ISIS command in Syria.
Attacking U.S. bases
The members of the cell had reportedly planned to stage attacks against U.S. military based in Germany. They started collecting information about the bases in preparation for those attacks.
The cell possessed firearms and live ammunitions. The commander of the group was also instructed to manufacture explosive devices and other devices capable of creating large fires.
The cell planned to attack the U.S. military bases with drones after loading these drones with explosives.
Assassinating Islam's critics
According to the German intelligence, the members of the cell also planned to assassinate those who criticized the Islamic religion in Germany.
The cell especially targeted Islam critics using social media.
