The German public prosecutor announced today, Friday, that 2 of the 4 individuals - whose homes were searched this morning in Germany - met with the Vienna attacker a few months ago in the Austrian capital.

A spokesman for the Public Prosecution Office said that the meeting took place last July, adding that the third person was in contact with the perpetrator via the Internet, and the fourth was in Internet contact with the individuals who had contact with the perpetrator.

The spokesman clarified that the four persons are not suspects in the attack, pointing out that the inspection campaign aims only at securing potential evidence, adding that there are no arrests in this campaign.

According to the German news agency, the four men are now being held as witnesses, and their means of communication have been confiscated, the contents of which will be evaluated.

In turn, the Federal Criminal Police confirmed in a tweet that the operations are taking place in Osnabrück, Kassel and Pintberg in the northwest of the country, and include sites belonging to 4 people "who are not suspected of involvement in the attack, but there may be links with the supposed killer."

The French News Agency quoted a police source as saying that the operation took place at the request of the Austrian authorities, but he refused to provide further details because the investigation is still ongoing.

The German magazine Spiegel reported that the 20-year-old Austrian attacker of Macedonian origin established ties in Germany when he tried to move to Syria in 2018 to join the ranks of ISIS.

Investigations are also taking place in Switzerland, where two men, aged 18 and 24, have been arrested this week.

Last Monday evening, Vienna witnessed an armed attack that killed 5 people - including the bomber - and injured 17 others, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

"The terrorist attack was carried out by one person, and 14 people have been arrested in connection with the port, and they are of different nationalities," Austrian Interior Minister Karl Niehamer said, indicating that an investigation into the incident continues.

Pursuit of leftists


In a related context, the German authorities launched a campaign of raids against individuals in the city of Leipzig against the background of accusations of belonging to an extremist left organization.

Today, Friday, the public prosecutor in Karlsruhe announced that the Saxon state criminal police had arrested a German citizen in Leipzig based on an arrest warrant from the investigating judge in the Federal Court.

According to the data, the woman is accused of belonging to a criminal organization, causing serious bodily injuries and grossly violating public peace.

The security authorities searched the homes of the detainee and two other suspected members based on the decisions of the investigating judge in the Federal Court.

The campaign comes against the background of the attack on the owner and visitors of a restaurant in Eisenach in October 2019, which was considered a meeting place for right-wing circles.