German police forces conducted several raids across five
federal states in response to an "imminent terror threat,"
according to local media. At least one arrest is
reported.
Operatives of elite police anti-terrorism units, the SEK, were
scrambled across five German states, including Thuringia, Hamburg,
North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Bavaria, according to Spiegel
magazine, which cites police in Thuringia.
Bild magazine cited "an imminent terror threat" as a trigger for
the operation.
The large-scale operation reportedly targeted "Islamist-linked
terror suspects," local broadcaster MDR reported.
A 28-year-old suspect, said to be a "Russian national of Chechen
descent" with links to Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) is
wanted by police, Spiegel reported. According to Bild, the suspect
may be plotting "a serious act of violence."
Among other suspects are also 10 men and three women, all with
alleged Islamist backgrounds.
All the suspects are reported to be asylum seekers with unknown
residence status.
Police forces deployed sniffer dogs to detect potential
explosives.
At least one suspect is reported to have been placed under
arrest in the central Thuringia city of Suhl, where "white powder"
of unknown origin was found.
Later, Thuringia criminal police said there is no threat of a
terror attack, adding that preliminary outcomes of the operation
would be released "in a matter of days."