Berlin, 6 July 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Nine people have been detained in western Germany and in the Netherlands on suspicion of forming an Islamist terrorist cell, prosecutors said on Thursday.

They are also alleged to have supported the Islamic State terrorist group.

Five of the men arrested in in the western German state of North Rhine Westphalia are from Tajikistan while two others come from Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, according to the state's interior minister, Herbert Reul.

Reul said the suspects are all between the ages of 20 and 46.

Dutch police arrested another man from Tajikistan allegedly connected with the group and his Kyrgyz wife on Thursday. According to Dutch police, the couple are also suspected of having plotted terrorist attacks.

Police launched early morning raids of numerous locations in western Germany and in the Netherlands that coincided with the arrests. In Germany, at least 200 police officers were involved in the operation, including elite tactical units, Reul said.

Prosecutors said the men entered the country together shortly after the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 with the aim of "carrying out high-profile Islamic State-style terror attacks in Germany."

The men had already identified potential targets in Germany, scouted locations and attempted to procure weapons, according to prosecutors. But they are not believed to have developed concrete attack plans.

Prosecutors said six of the suspects arrested in Germany have been collecting money for IS since April 2022 and transferring it abroad.

Reul said he did not know of any lists of specific targets and could not say whether weapons were found during the searches.

He added that the suspects travelled back and forth between Germany and the Netherlands on a regular basis and were members of the Islamic State offshoot "Islamic State Khorasan Province" (ISPK).

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called the police operation "a significant blow against Islamist terrorism" and proof that "the fight against Islamist terrorism remains firmly in the focus of our security services."

"Germany is still in the direct target range of Islamist terrorist organizations and individual Islamist-motivated perpetrators," said Faeser. She vowed that the country will continue to maintain a tough stance against Islamist extremism.

Faeser also referenced two suspected terror plots that were thwarted by authorities near Dortmund as well as in Hamburg and police raids against a suspected Islamic State financing network at the end of May.

The seven suspects arrested in Germany are expected to be brought before judges in the city of Karlsruhe for initial court appearances on Thursday and Friday. The couple arrested in the Netherlands are expected to appear before a judge in Rotterdam on Friday.

Photo: MIA archive