BERLIN: German police arrested four people on Wednesday accused of belonging to a far-right “terror” organisation that acquired explosives for attacks on Muslims and refugee homes.

The early-morning swoops in five states occurred with the country already on edge after authorities last week said they had foiled a planned Islamist attack by a German-Turkish couple armed with a pipe bomb and other weapons.

They also came amid an increase in attacks on lodgings for asylum seekers as Germany takes in record numbers of people fleeing conflicts in the Middle East and Africa.

The raids turned up “pyrotechnics with large explosive power” that investigators believe were intended for use in attacks, said the federal prosecutor’s office in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe.

“To what extent the suspects had set targets or dates for attacks will be the subject of further investigation,” it said in a statement.

The four suspects, three men and a 22-year-old woman identified only as Denise Vanessa G., are accused of starting a “far-right terrorist organisation” called Oldschool Society with a larger group of people last November.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2015

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