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Civilian police vehicle leaves the premises of the Federal Court of Justice

Photo: Julian Rettig / dpa

After the raid on a financing network of the terrorist militia »Islamic State« (IS), three of the main suspects have been remanded in custody. In the case of a woman from the North Rhine-Westphalian district of Heinsberg, the arrest warrant remains in place, said a spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office. However, it had not been implemented under certain conditions. The spokesman did not give any details.

A suspect from Ulm, a man arrested in the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Neuwied and a man also arrested in the district of Heinsberg were remanded in custody. A woman arrested in Bremen and two people arrested in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia are to be brought before the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice on Thursday.

The accused are said to have collected money for IS. The Federal Prosecutor's Office accuses them primarily of supporting a terrorist group abroad. They are said to have collected donations for ISIS. According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the money is said to have been used in particular to improve the supply situation of IS supporters who are being held in the Syrian camps of Al-Hol and Roj, as well as to escape or smuggle them out of the camps.

Searches in eleven federal states

In addition to the arrests, there were searches in eleven federal states on Wednesday morning, the investigators said. More than 1000,100 forces of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the state criminal police offices of the affected countries and the police were deployed. In total, more than <> objects were searched.

According to a spokesman for the Karlsruhe authority, there were searches in Berlin, Bavaria, Bremen, Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Also in the Netherlands, therefore, an object was searched. A spokeswoman for the Hamburg public prosecutor's office also named two proceedings in Schleswig-Holstein.

For years, IS controlled large areas in the civil war country of Syria and neighboring Iraq. In June 2014, he proclaimed a so-called caliphate and claimed his claim to leadership in the global jihad. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the peak phase ended in 2016, and in the meantime the extremists have lost their territory again. However, IS cells are still active in both countries.

Since the beginning of January 2014, the Criminal Code has made it possible to prosecute acts committed by members or supporters of IS who are German citizens, reside in Germany or work here. Of the several dozen »IS women« who have returned to Germany in recent years, many have been detained and tried after their arrival.

asc/dpa