Probe widened on suspected terror cell in German army

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN

The German army has identified a third soldier in connection to a suspected far-right group within the armed forces and suspended him from his duties, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Friday.

Speaking at a regular news conference in Berlin, Defense Ministry spokesman Jens Flosdorff confirmed that investigators received information about a right-wing extremist soldier who recently told his companions about a far-right group among soldiers in the Franco-German brigade in Illkirch.

He said this soldier was suspended from his duties, but declined to make any further comments due to the ongoing investigation into the suspected far-right terror cell.

Currently two lieutenants from the Franco-German brigade in Illkirch and a student from Offenbach are under arrest for allegedly planning acts of violence targeting senior politicians and other public figures.

The police investigation revealed that the main suspect, the 28-year-old lieutenant Franco A., had apparently spent more than a year living a double life as a Syrian refugee in Germany, in order to pin the blame of their planned attack on refugees.

During searches at the suspects' apartments, several lists on potential targets have been found, which included names of the former President Joachim Gauck and Justice Minister Heiko Maas.

Police said they also discovered around 1,000 rounds of ammunition which were stolen from army stocks

Franco A. first caught the attention of the authorities in February when he tried to hide a pistol in a restroom at Vienna International Airport in Austria.

At that time, he was briefly arrested but later released by the Austrian authorities.

German weekly Der Spiegel reported Friday that police have found documents at an electronic storage device of Franco A., which showed ways to build homemade explosives.

According to the prosecutors, the suspected far-right grouping within the Franco-German brigade in Illkirch viewed the German government's open-door policy for refugees as a national security threat and wanted to reverse it with a major attack which they could pin on refugees.

Since 2015, Germany received more than 1.1 million refugees, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, who were forced to flee their homes due to conflict.

Germany’s opposition parties have long criticized the government for not taking serious measures against far-right extremists within the German army.

The Defense Ministry had informed parliament last month it was investigating 275 suspected right-wing extremists in its ranks.

Between 2012 and 2016, 18 soldiers were discharged from the German armed forces due to their far-right views.