Germany arrests 3 men with links to ISIS

Germany: Three men from Syrian believed to have been sent to Germany by Islamic State (ISIS) as a possible "sleeper cell'' have been arrested during raids. The three men are accused of coming to Germany in November 2015 on the instruction of ISIS "in order either to carry out an assignment they had already received or to keep themselves ready for further instructions,'' said federal prosecutors.

The men were arrested following raids at refugee homes in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany's northernmost state.
Speaking to reporters, Germany's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the men had been under observation for months.

"This may have been a sleeper cell,'' he said.

According to De Maiziere, the suspects appear to have made it to Europe through the same means as two other men who blew themselves up outside France's national stadium in Paris in November 2015, an attack ISIS claim responsibility for.

"Everything points to the same smuggling organisation as with the Paris attackers having brought these three who were arrested to Germany,'' he said.

``And everything points to the travel documents having come from the same workshop.''

Prosecutors identified the three suspects only as Mahir Al-H, 17, Mohamed A, 26, and Ibrahim M, 18.

The three men traveled to Germany through Turkey and Greece, a route used by most migrants to Europe last year.

Prosecutor said Mahir Al-H. joined IS in Raqqa, Syria, in early 2015 where he received weapons and explosives training, before he and the other two suspects in October 2015 told an IS official responsible for "operations and attacks outside the IS area'' that they would travel to Europe.

ISIS provided the three men with passports and were given a "high four-figure sum'' of cash in US dollars as well as mobile phones with a pre-installed communication program, prosecutors said in a statement.

The Federal Criminal Police Office said that six other locations in two German states were searched on Tuesday adding that, as well as the arrests, ``extensive material'' was seized as evidence.