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Special forces in North Rhine-Westphalia (archive)
Photo: Kai Uwe Hagemann / picture alliance / dpa
Terrorist investigators in North Rhine-Westphalia are taking action against a suspected Islamist cell from the greater Aachen area.
Since early Thursday morning, around 350 police officers under the direction of the Cologne police have been searching five houses and apartments for SPIEGEL information.
The Public Prosecutor's Office in Düsseldorf is investigating five suspects between the ages of 16 and 22 on suspicion of preparing a serious, state-endangering act of violence.
According to SPIEGEL information, state security officials from the Soko »Stern« had targeted the alleged supporters of the terrorist militia »Islamic State« (IS) for some time.
Accordingly, the Islamists are said to have organized a kind of terror training at the end of last year.
According to information from investigators, the suspects are said to have practiced in a forest near Aachen how to commit an attack with axes and knives.
Well-connected threat
The accused have apparently not yet pursued a specific crime plan, and arrest warrants have not been carried out.
Ringleader of the group is said to be a 22-year-old threat from the Düren district.
The alleged jihadist is considered to be well networked nationwide.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution currently counts around 12,000 people nationwide on the Islamist scene - a threefold increase compared to 2011. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there are 521 threats who the police believe will be attacked.
320 of them are in Germany, almost a third are in custody.
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Verdict against Jennifer W., She felt at home with IS «Von Wiebke Ramm, Munich
Despite the defeat of IS in Syria, experts see a continuing threat of terrorist attacks in Germany.
The Taliban's victory in Afghanistan gave the jihadist scene another "boost," says terror researcher Peter Neumann.
"Now there is a kind of jolt through the scene again." Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) last warned a few weeks ago of the continued high danger posed by Islamists in Germany.
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