Germany: Police thwart armed attack on Bundestag

Near a raided property in Frankfurt during a raid against "Reich citizens" in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, December 7, 2022. AP - Boris Roessler

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The radicalization of the German far-right is not new, but the unprecedented operation carried out this Wednesday morning, December 7 in Germany, against a terrorist group suspected of wanting to take power, goes beyond the dangers regularly mentioned.

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With our correspondent in Berlin,

Three thousand police officers in eleven out of sixteen German regions, 25 arrests, a total of 52 suspects: this is the largest operation against a terrorist network in Germany since the war.

The group wanted nothing less than the seizure of power and an attack on Parliament had been planned last year.

Among the suspects are many members of the

, the long-taken movement that rejects current German institutions;

people have been active in the

.

A former member of the far-right AfD party in the Bundestag is also among the suspects;

she had again become a judge in Berlin.

►Also read:

An old but very real danger 

The presence of ex-soldiers or still active members of the

 , the German army, is worrying.

This is not a first, and it means that the terrorist group had people with military know-how and, if necessary, an armed wing.

This large-scale operation confirms the

German far right ready to use violence, a danger to which the authorities have been warning for several years.

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• Germany

• Terrorism