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Bulgaria arrests 5 German citizens suspicious of terrorism

Xinhua, April 20, 2017 Adjust font size:

Bulgaria has arrested five German citizens suspiciously involved in terror activities when they were trying to leave the country at Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on the border with Turkey, the Bulgarian government said Thursday in a statement.

There were reasonable suspicions that the five Germans, one of them underage, were involved in a terrorist organization, Bulgaria's State Agency for National Security (SANS) said in the statement.

They were traveling by train from the Romanian capital Bucharest to Istanbul. In their behavior, the Bulgarian authorities noticed signs of radicalization typical for the so-called foreign terrorist fighters, the statement said.

According to the data collected, four of the detained persons were involved in supporting a terrorist organization operating in Syria and Iraq, while the minor was trying to reach the territory of Syria, where they could join the terrorist group, the statement said.

The German authorities have banned them from leaving Germany, the statement said.

According to the SANS, the four adult Germans have already been expelled from Bulgaria, while the minor German citizen would be handed over to his family in Germany later on.

In 2016, the SANS expelled 22 foreigners who were suspiciously involved in terrorist activities. Endit