German police arrest three suspected jihadists

The New York Times 02:40 - 01 February 2017

German police arrested three suspected jihadists in Berlin trying to reach foreign "war zones"

The suspects, whose gender was not immediately given, were aged 21, 31 and 45, the police spokesman said.

German police said they arrested three people in Berlin on Tuesday suspected of trying to reach foreign "war zones" in order to train to carry out an attack.

The suspects may be linked to the Islamic State group and had "planned to travel to war zones," likely Syria or Iraq, a Berlin police spokesman told AFP.

Police also carried out searches, but there has been "no indication of concrete plans to carry out an attack in Germany", according to the Bild daily's website.

The suspects, whose gender was not immediately given, were aged 21, 31 and 45, the spokesman said. He added that investigators suspect they were trying to reach a camp to train to launch an attack.

At least two of the people arrested lived in Berlin, Bild reported.

Those arrested frequented the same mosque attended by a Tunisian man suspected of ploughing a hijacked lorry into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12. The December 19 attack was claimed by IS.

The mosque, which is being investigated by authorities, was also searched.