Advertisement

Police seize weapons and ammo during raid on far-right scene

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Police seize weapons and ammo during raid on far-right scene
Officers outside a property in Thuringia on Friday. Photo: DPA

Special forces raided several addresses in north and east Germany on Friday, confiscating weapons from what they allege is an extremist right-wing group.

Advertisement

The raids, supported by officers from seven German states, took place in the early morning hours in Thuringia and Lower Saxony against 14 properties. At one location, a man who was not under suspicion attacked officers, lightly injuring two of them.

Along with guns and ammo, police seized drugs, propaganda material, mobile phones and computers. The guns were found at the home of a man who had a licence to carry them, but police said that state authorities would re-evaluate whether he was fit to hold a gun licence.

The raids were part of an investigation into 13 individuals accused of forming a criminal organization.

Police say the individuals called their group “European Action” and organized weapons training in remote forests in eastern Germany, with the goal of disrupting the societal and political order in Germany and other European countries.

“My working hypothesis is that there are right-wing terror structures here, although we don’t see them everywhere. But we certainly follow up every lead,” said Stephan Kramer, head of domestic intelligence in Thuringia.

According to Katharina König-Preuss, a politician for Die Linke (the Lefty Party) in Thuringia, European Action are a “melting pot of Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis.”

The group have links to several far-right organizations in the eastern state, including Pegida, Die Linke claims.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also