BERLIN – German police are raiding homes and offices linked to a group of anti-government extremists suspected of trying to establish their own state.
Police say 15 premises in the states of Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate are being searched.
Upper Bavaria police said Tuesday some of the searches are being conducted with tactical response units present due to the possibility that the suspects might act violently.
Seven people are suspected of engaging in forgery by producing documents purportedly issued by the "German Reich." Nine others are suspected sympathizers or customers.
German authorities have expressed growing concern about the grouping, which has been compared to the U.S. sovereign citizen movement.
A police officer was killed and three others were wounded last year in armed standoffs with members of the so-called Reich Citizens' Movement.
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