Taliban suspect arrested in southwest Germany

From Deutsche Welle

German officials have detained a 20-year-old Afghan on suspicion of being a member of the Taliban. The man had fought against security forces in his home country, German prosecutors say.

German authorities identified the suspect as Hekmat T. on Friday, saying that the Afghan joined the Taliban as a teenager in 2013. He was repeatedly involved in the attacks on the Afghanistan police and security forces before traveling to Europe, Karlsruhe-based federal prosecutors said, without providing details on why he was in Germany.

The news of the arrest in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate comes only two weeks after the police in nearby Bavaria detained another young Afghan national. According to the prosecutors, the 17-year-old boy also joined the Taliban in 2013 and took part in armed clashes until 2015.

Both men are to stay in jail until their respective trials.

Last month, a powerful truck bomb also targeted the German consulate in the Mazar-i-Sharif city, killing six people and injuring over a hundred more. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack