Police in Germany on Wedndesday launched anti-terror raids against Islamist preachers suspected of trying to recruit men to fight for ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
The raids took place in the west German state of North Rhine-Westphalia this morning, the state’s criminal police said, and targeted the towns of Duisburg and Dortmund among others.
At least three people were targeted in the raid. They are suspected of seeking members and supporters for ISIS since last year.
One of them also is believed to have given the group financial and logistical support, though no arrests have been made.
Germany is on high alert after a spate of attacks since July that have left 15 people dead, including four attackers, and dozens injured.
Two of the attackers, a Syrian asylum seeker and a refugee from either Pakistan or Afghanistan, had links to Islamist militancy, officials say.
The interior minister will propose a raft of new security measures on Thursday in response to two ISIS-linked terror attacks in recent months.
They include speeding up the expulsion process for asylum seekers convicted of crimes, Bild daily reported, and the creation of a “threat to public security” as a new reason for deporting migrants.
Doctors will also have their confidentiality obligations lifted in special cases that would allow them to inform authorities should their patient be a potential threat to the population.
The tougher stance comes after the two attacks by migrants in the southern state of Bavaria – an axe rampage on a train in Wuerzburg and a suicide bombing in Ansbach.
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