BERLIN
German police arrested four people on suspicion of planning attacks against Muslims and asylum seekers on Wednesday, officials said.
The three men and one woman are said to have established a far-right group called the Oldschool Society and acquired a large amount of explosives for attacks on mosques, asylum seeker centers and prominent Salafists – followers of a fundamentalist version of Islam – in Germany.
According to a statement from the Federal Prosecutor’s office, 250 police officers swooped on houses in five states across the country early Wednesday morning.
Those arrested were identified as Andreas H., 56, and Markus W., 39, Denise Vanessa G., 22, and Olaf O., 47. The first two were identified as the leaders of the group, said to have been set up last November.
The prosecutor’s office said investigators were examining material seized during the raids to uncover specific targets.
The security services in Germany have intensified their focus on far-right groups in recent years following the failure to prevent a series of murders by a group called the National Socialist Underground between 2000 and 2007.
The gang killed eight Turkish migrants, a Greek worker and a German police officer in a campaign that failed to arouse suspicions.
The public first heard of the group in November 2011, when two members died in an apparent suicide pact following an unsuccessful bank robbery. The third member, Beate Zchaepe, is currently on trial.
Anti-migrant sentiment has increased in Germany in recent months, with thousands attending marches in Dresden organized by Pegida, a right-wing group opposed to the ‘Islamification’ of Europe.
