German police launch massive raids to nab far-right 'terrorists'

Police in Germany have carried out extensive searches and raids to hunt suspected members of a new far-right, terrorist organization, media reports say.

"The goal of today's search measures was to obtain further evidence of the actual creation of a formal group, as well as the alleged planned criminal acts and any potential tools," said the chief prosecutor's office in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement said the early morning raids covered homes of six people thought to have established the new nationalist group.

The prosecutor's office also said the raids were part of a broader investigation into the group's suspected planning of armed attacks against police, asylum seekers and members of other minorities, adding that most of those attacks were planned for the spring of 2016. It would not elaborate on whether there were arrests but said that police had detected communications between members of the group via social media.

n operation was also carried out into the home of a seventh person suspected of helping the group obtain supplies. About 200 police forces took part in the raids, which occurred in the capital, Berlin, and the states of Baden-Wuerttemerg, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Sachsen-Anhalt.

There was no comment on the identity of the people subject to the raids, neither was there any indication about the name and agenda of the new radical group. However, reports in local media hinted to the "Reichsbuerger," or Citizens of the Reich, a group that thinks that the Nazi Germany, which was operating before the World War II as the "Deutsche Reich," is still alive. Reichsbuergers do not recognize modern Germany as a legitimate state.

Intelligence agencies in Germany have warned about the emergence of what they generally brand as "right-wing terrorist structures," saying Berlin should take concrete steps to avert the violence.

Authorities launched similar raids last year to dismantle a suspected ultra-right militant group known as "Oldschool Society."

Germany has been tough on far-right violence since it began to admit millions of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa in early 2015. The exodus is believed to have sparked fresh nationalist sentiments in Germany as reports have indicated that attacks by far-right radicals frequently target asylum seekers, especially the Muslims. Those radicals have also staged numerous smear campaigns against Muslims, strengthening the general anti-Muslim trend Islamophobia.

The far right in Germany has also managed to gain more of a political status through opposing Chancellor Angela Merkel's liberal asylum policy.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) seeks to win more seats in the September 24 elections and become the country's first post-war populist party in the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

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