Germany arrests IS suspects plotting attacks on US bases

From Deutsche Welle and the German edition of The Local

German prosecutors on Wednesday said four men had been arrested for plotting to carry out attacks in the name of the terror group “Islamic State (IS).”

The four men, originally from Tajikistan — along with a fifth individual who was detained last year — were believed to have been plotting attacks on US air force bases in Germany. They were also suspected of carrying out surveillance of critics of Islam, prosecutors said, targeting them for future assassination.

Attacks had not been due to take place imminently, officials said, but the men had already procured firearms and ammunition.

The suspects — named as Azizjon B., Muhammadali G., Farhodshoh K., Sunatullokh K. and Ravsan B. — are accused of joining the Islamic State group in January 2019 and initially planning to carry out attacks in Tajikistan. They then switched their focus to Germany after receiving instructions from two high-ranking IS leaders in Syria and Afghanistan, prosecutors said.

Two of the suspects are also accused of travelling to Albania to carry out an assassination attempt in exchange for $40,000. However, the project failed and they returned to Germany. German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel reported that the men’s alleged leader, a 30-year-old Tajik man identified only as Ravsan B., has been in prison on firearms charges since last year.