2nd LD Writethru: Suspected IS terrorists arrested in Germany: media

Three out of four men from Syria planning to launch a terrorist attack in Germany on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) were arrested on Thursday, German media Spiegel Online reported.

According to the report, the attack was supposed to have taken place in the old town of the western German city of Dusseldorf. The alleged plan had been that after two suicide bombers had blown themselves up near an avenue in the center of Dusseldorf, more terrorists would use guns to shoot people.

The chief federal prosecutor in Karlsruhe confirmed to local media that four men from Syria were suspected of involvement in the terrorist plot.

Two of them traveled in 2014 from Syria to Turkey and came through the Balkan route in 2015 to Germany where they are suspected of recruiting another Syrian. The fourth man who had been residing in Germany since 2014 is believed to have formerly worked for a Syrian terrorist organization as an explosives expert.

Three of the arrested suspects had resided in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Brandenburg. The fourth member is being held in custody in France.

Three of the suspects are also accused by the German Federal Prosecutor's Office of membership in a foreign terrorist organization, while the fourth man is under investigation for supporting a terrorist organization. Endit