BERLIN: German police raided 43 apartments on Wednesday in an operation targeting Islamists suspected of radicalizing more than 100 people into attending an Egyptian school where terrorist recruiters allegedly operate.
The operation was aimed at 39 individuals across the country. Arrest warrants were issued for seven of them, three of whom are now in custody, prosecutors in the southern city of Stuttgart said in a statement.
The seven, aged between 24 and 59, are accused of attempting to persuade people to attend a religious and language school in Egypt where radicals are believed to recruit people for terrorist training camps, the statement said.
After their training, some of these people, who include converts to Islam, return to Germany while others go abroad, including to Pakistan and Afghanistan, prosecutors added.
Germany has never been victim of an attack by Islamist radicals, but the country, which has around 4,300 troops in Afghanistan, has stepped up security in recent years. -AFP
